Rebirth and rechristening
by 19lams5
Summary: Harry Potter decides that enough is enough. Having beaten Voldemort after training himself for a decade with the power he knew not, Harry is convinced by his cunning mentor to travel back to a time when things were simpler and magic was freer. His mission was simple: stop his mentor from making a terrible mistake. But what if his mentor refuses to be saved? Harry/Rowena
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter's life had been a living hell. He knew from early on that Ron was only interested in his fame, that Hermione was only interested in studying him as a survivor of the killing curse, that Albus Dumbledore was a manipulative man trying constantly testing him with his little schemes and plots and that Severus Snape decided that little Harry was the bane of his existence.

What all these schemers did not know was that the mild mannered and boy was hiding a calculating and patient schemer. No, he had avoided Slytherin not because of the obvious setup Dumbledore used, with the young Weasley, just happening to be his first anchor for information in the wizarding world, sprouting anti-Slytherin ideas just as fast as the Death Eaters sprouted anti-muggle propaganda. He had avoided Slytherin because that would have marked him as an even bigger target.

Every time Harry was beaten by Dudley when he was little, he had reminded himself that he would never resort to such feeble brutality, that he would always scheme in the shadows, acting with elegance and grace. For the moment he had broken free of the bindings that Dumbledore had put on him during the summer between his second and third year, he had saw to Vernon's next great adventure. It was also circumstantial that Dudley and Petunia suddenly gave the boy a wide berth with his magic unbound.

Harry Potter could have acted prior. He first discovered magic when after a particularly harsh beating he had recovered over the course of one night when any normal person would have had to go under months of intensive care to have a hope of recovery. When the Dursley didn't bat an eye at the fact he was able to cook breakfast for them next morning, little Harry knew he had special powers and that the Dursleys were scared of him.

The next time Dudley and his gang tried to corner him in the playground, he had outrun them before willing himself to be far away in his safe spot in the park, and behold, he had discovered apparition at the age of seven. He had willed his appearance to change after Petunia shaved his head for leaving school, and beatings ensued when it grew back the next day. From that moment on, Harry took on their punishment with bated breath, always carefully developing his powers in secret.

By the time he was introduced to the wizarding world at age eleven by Hagrid, Harry Potter was already a fierce combatant, unversed in the traditional magics but deadly with his own fighting style of self taught magics.

In the first year, he had reluctantly took the bait of Dumbledore and Quirrell, killing the latter and acquiring the philosopher's stone. However if one thought he would part ways with such a tool they were a fool, and the one he handed Dumbledore was nothing but a faux. When he received the invisibility cloak he quickly deduced that no ordinary invisibility cloak could have withstood the test of time in such a manner, and figured out that Dumbledore had the elder wand while he was unsure of the resurrection stone.

In the second year, he had dutifully slain the basilisk with the help of Fawkes, after Ron deliberately caused a cave in with Lockhart to separate the two. Of course after the deed was done Harry had obliviated Ginny and Ron, Lockhart helpfully having obliviated himself, such that no one would know the location of the chamber of secrets. Having learnt about Tom Marvolo Riddle and horcruxes had been a boon for Harry, not to mention the supply of potion ingredients he had been able to dissect the basilisk corpse into. He had further investigated the chamber and found that the study of Salazar Slytherin, reading into the man's journals and learning vastly about the history of Hogwarts as well as in magic. There being a portrait of Slytherin also helped immensely, provided some sarcastic snips and a second opinion.

In the third year, he had saved Buckbeat with Hermione. He had managed to get a time turner after all his efforts, giving Mcgonagall a fake after he convinced Hermione to show it to him right before she returned it to her. Sirius had been saved, and though Harry couldn't possibly care for a man who put his vengeance before the life of young Harry, he had played his part as the loving godson, managing to subtly convince Black to give Harry the considerable wealth of the Blacks seeing as he did not need it.

In the fourth year, Harry was surprised by his entry into the tournament, though unsurprised when the four houses provided a united front, making him a pariah in Hogwarts, and sealing his determination to get out of this time as soon as possible. He had been minimally saddened by the death of Cedric Diggory, having given the boy the cup after suspecting a trap by Voldemort. The boy had eagerly accepted, thinking Harry was crazy for surrendering the opportunity. Voldemort had returned the boy's mangled corpse the next day in an open coffin in Hogsmeade, though Harry scoffed when most of the wizarding world refused to believe that the dark lord had in fact returned. His entry into the tournament also made him an adult, giving him access to his family vaults. He had hastily withdrew all the artifacts within the vaults to a new, larger and more secure trunk along with the rest of his possessions. He had also withdrew several hundred thousand galleons, most of his family fortune, without the goblin's knowledge of course. He was thankful that the goblins did not check on the contents of the family vaults. The goblins offered no interest and actually charged a fee for using the vaults, so Harry had been tempted to close the account and move it all into muggle banks, but he didn't want to alert the others and instead left around ten thousand galleons worth of coins sitting idly in the vault.

In his fifth year, professor Umbridge had been relentless in targeting his 'friends', and he generally kept a low head, using the same bated breath he kept with the Dursleys. He had refused to lead Dumbledore's Army, but kept up to date with their progress after they were led by Hermione and stepped in to teach once in a while. He had a blinding vision of Sirius Black, but did not fall for the trap, not caring for Sirius anyways. Strangely, Harry found that he was assimilating additional knowledge, and realized that Voldemort had grown careless and his mind was unstable from the soul splitting, making it vulnerable and causing it to leak all his knowledge to Harry. Harry wondered through the immense dark arts intellect that the dark lord had, and immediately picking up on occlumency and legilimency, constructing formidable mind defences and practicing on his unsuspecting classmates.

In his sixth year, professor Dumbledore finally died at the hands of one Draco Malfoy. Having watched the ordeal, Harry then proceeded to kill Draco and his two friends before picking up the elder wand, realizing that he was now the master of two deathly hallows. Using his knowledge and magic, he searched high and low in the headmaster's office, coming a small golden snitch trinket which contained the resurrection stone. His plan complete, he was disappointed that there was no apparent benefit of being 'master of death', but regardless kept the three united hallows in his trunk alongside the philosopher's stone. Having researched into time travel spells and read many a journal purchased anonymously from Knockturn Alley, combined with the insights of Salazar Slytherin and much of his own hard work, he had managed to figure out a time travelling ritual. Of course Slytherin managed to convince him to go to the time of the founding of Hogwarts.

But this was all while he continued the elusive hunt for the horcruxes. Just because he disliked the light didn't mean that he would forgive Voldemort for leaving him an orphan. It was a shame having to destroy the locket and the diadem, even with Salazar's blessing, calling the items 'tainted and forever ruined'. When Voldemort was finally mortal, he had lured the fool to attack Hogwarts, and at the tender age of twenty five, having trained for years. While he had gone on his hunt his foolish 'friends' had gone on the back heel, allowing Voldemort to expand his death eater ranks into the thousands by recruiting in France, Germany, the Nordic countries, Italy, Spain, even into the middle east and Russia. He paid little attention to this, the extent of his concerns being the location of the death eater headquarters, which was not very inconspicuous, with knockturn alley being razed to make way for a palace of grand proportions. Breaking in had been the simple matter of killing a low level death eater and adorning the robes, their security was even worse than the ministry of magic they toppled.

The final duel had been easily dominated by Harry. It was not a romantic tale of the underdog fighting to the end and suddenly getting a lucky shot after all the resilience and pain endured. It was a simply a slaughter, of Harry, having gained all of Riddle's knowledge and plans, building on top and advancing even further, progressing to new heights while the dark lord remained complacent, having thought the chosen one had merely gone into hiding and scurried away. Harry had trained for years under Salazar's guidance, and Voldemort's age had shown, with him unable to continue casting the unforgivables after his magic was almost completely drained in mere minutes. Defeating Voldemort, magic had gifted him the magic from all of the marked death eaters, easily bolstering his magical core to unimaginable proportions. The size of his core compared to that of Albus Dumbledore would be like comparing a maggot to the size of the moon.

The prophecy fulfilled and standing triumphant in the ruins of the magical communities of Europe, American expeditionary mages kept order in the streets, the ministries of the various countries save for the resilient Germans having long fallen to Voldemort's power, be it through direct invasion or through the work of spies. He suspected that in the power vacuum another dark lord would rise, or perhaps they would fight themselves into oblivion. The unmarked, Voldemort's group of unmarked followers, would all be scrambling for power mere moments after their lord's defeat.

Among the ruins of Hogwarts, Harry cleared a path towards the second floor girls bathroom, still standing as a testament to the endurance of the castle. He restocked on food and went to the chamber one last time on the eve of his twentieth sixth birthday.

"Are you sure you want to do this, my heir? I cannot guarantee the sanity of myself. I made this portrait during the founding of Hogwarts, and I suspect I might have gone insane if my followers are making abominations such as horcruxes. Are you certain that I invented them?"

"You perfected them, no doubt. If it makes you feel any better the Egyptians did it nearly a millennium before you, though your journals leave little doubt that you did in fact create the first modern horcrux." The portrait signed lamentably.

"It seems that even a portrait can learn so much, for I have learnt just as much watching you grow. It breaks my heart that Hogwarts would become such a corrupted place, where we've moulded society into bigotry and division. It truly amazes me to learn that muggles have surpassed us in so many ways, I find myself in awe of them. Perhaps if you meet myself you could try and steer me in the right path. Do me one favor, and find my son. The lost journal you showed me makes me shudder. I am sorry I cannot tell you when I made the horcrux, but I pray you not to let me and my son get away with such horrors of nature."

"I will do my best, but you know that I for one do not manipulate my friends. Your path is your own, and I can only offer to guide you, just as you only ever guided me, never commanding me or forcing me to take a certain path, portrait or not."

The portrait smiled sadly as Ameon pulled out his prepared trunk, shrinking it until it was the size of a biscuit. He put it in his mouth, trying to ignore it as he laid back in a well prepared heptagonal ritual circle, laying down as he began a long incantation. Soon his world faded into black, and Harry Potter of his timeline ceased to be.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry Potter landed with a thud into a bush and yelled out several curses. The first thing he noticed was that he was completely naked. Thankfully no one was around as he picked himself up, hastily pulling a shrunken trunk out of his mouth and allowing the transfiguration to wear off, reverting back into its normal size. He opened his trunk, pulling out his wand and then a set of robes, adorning them before sealing his trunk again. Checking around him and satisfied that there was no one in the vicinity, he cast, "Tempus," nearly cheering out loud when in flaming letters it red 08:00 1st August 990 A.D. Now wearing hopelessly 'modern' clothing, he dragged his trunk behind him as he walked along the dirt path, spotting a small village in the distance with a large castle looming in the backdrop.

"Hogwarts, here I come," Harry said cheerfully. As he got nearer to the town, he could make out the small row of shops forming the town center. As he entered the mouth of the village he could make out the apothecary, the village post office and the Three Broomsticks. An old wooden sign hung by the door, reading 'ten knuts a night. Five sickles a month. Six knuts for a meal.' Harry let out a low whistle, realizing that his million galleons would take him far and wide in this realm. He imagined the utter chaos he could do destabilizing the economy. Merlin, Gringotts didn't even exist yet, though Harry read that there were certainly goblins around this time running banks.

Walking in, a burly man behind the bar table greeted him jovially. "Welcome stranger, I be Edgar the barkeeper. Care for a meal?"

"Sure, give me one and a room for the night," Harry replied, tossing the man a sickle. The barkeep caught it eagerly, eyeing it to confirm its legitimacy before pocketing it and busying himself preparing a meal. He wondered whether Edgar was an ancestor to Tom, the barkeeper of the Three Broomsticks during his time.

He was plump and short, even for the time, with a messy mop of black hair and black eyes. Standing around 5 foot two, wearing an old and patchy brown apron, he was not unlike Tom the barkeeper in Harry's time. He seemed cheerful enough making his way around the bar handing out meals.

"Here ya go," he said happily, setting a bowl of meat and soup in front of him as well as thirteen knuts change. Harry eyed the mystery meat suspiciously before tucking in. It tasted fine, and he didn't ask questions he probably didn't want answered. He eyed the other villagers, who were chatting and drinking away happily. He wondered how it seemed that the village was more populated now than during his own time, before realizing the toll that decades if not centuries of stagnation in Britain had caused for wizarding kind.

Finished with his food, he went over to the bar table and handed the bowl back to Edgar. "Thanks my good man, most people are too lazy to return the bowls. Your room be the third one from the front to the left, number five. Here's the key." Harry caught a small bronze key with a feather keychain.

"Tell me Edgar, where should I go to find a bank?"

"Oh, just go down the street. There's a marble building there, ye can't miss it. Goblins, nasty creatures, but they get the job done."

"Thank you," Harry left the bustling tavern and wandered down the street as instructed, indeed coming across a large marble building, though not in the same place as Gringotts, he noted. The building was even larger and grander, looking like a cross between a smaller buckingham palace and the US capital. He couldn't help but wonder what happened to the building, and why it did not exist in modern times. Four goblin guards stood intimidatingly at the entrance, two carrying halberds while two had swords and shields. He gave them a curt bow as he passed them, not missing the surprise the four goblins showed as he continued towards the teller's counter.

"May your gold flow, my friend. I am looking for a vault, and I was told this is the place to get one," Harry said, respecting the goblin customs he had picked up on during his youth. The goblin seemed surprised, not sneering him as he did several other customers.

"May your enemies' heads roll before you, I am ironpalm" he replied in kind before asking, "Low security, medium security or high security?"

"High security," Harry replied confidently. Apparently his robes and confidence were not enough to assure the goblin, for he was told quite snidely that the minimum deposit for a high security vault was fifteen sickles. Harry sighed as he put a galleon on the counter, getting the goblin's attention as he hastily led him through a large vault door and into a minecart.

The journey down was as exhilarating for Harry as it was the first time, though he managed to keep an aristocratic mask at all times. Going deep, Harry observed the vaults still under construction, and realized that these were the same as the ones that formed the old and most guarded underbelly of Gringotts.

"Security will be improved once we get a Ukrainian Ironbelly down here. For now though we have goblin guards round the clock," Ironpalm explained. Harry nodded along as they exited the minecart and into a large vault. "The vault can magically expand. The fee is one sickle a year. Yours is number seven."

Harry walked in, impressed by the security of the goblins. Stepping inside, he pulled out his pouch and opened it, shaking it as hundreds of galleons fell out. Even if he tried not to, Harry could tell that the goblin was staring, muttering under his breath, "By the graces of Ragnuk."

It was amusing to see the goblin try to make the ride in the minecart more comfortable after seeing the show of wealth, if such a feat in the contraption were possible. Shooting back to the surface having deposited only a fraction of his wealth, but enough to make a statement, he left the goblins and found his way to the scroll store, picking out hundreds on the topics of history, armithacy, transfiguration and various other topics. The shopkeeper's eyes were glowing as he handed over the several galleons to cover the cost of his shopping spree.

Taking back a shrunken stack of scrolls that would have made Hermione's eyes water, he carefully stored all of his newly acquired artifacts in his trunk and refilled his money pouch before leaving again, wandering around the town of Hogsmeade.

Pieces of parchment were nailed onto everywhere, a primitive form of advertising. One particularly stood out to him.

Ten acres of island, includes the lake and a bit of the surrounding lands consisting around fifty hundred acres. Twenty two galleons, no lower. For more details contact the four founders.

Attached to the notice was a small map with the approximate location of it, being situated near the boundary of Hogwarts a bit beyond the forbidden forest. The lake was nearly perfectly round, and the plot of land in the center of the lake was elliptical as well, with the rest of the property comprising of a large area of forest surrounding the edge of a lake. Harry could already envision building a fortress of solitude for himself. The island was a perfect defensive position, and within his mind the idea of filling it to the brim with magical defences was extremely appealing.

"I see you are very interested in the poster, want to have a survey of the land? All profits would go towards funding Hogwarts," Harry turned around to be greeted by a large man, with a broad chest and a red cloak, a large longsword sheathed by its hilt on his belt.

"Godric Gryffindor," Harry said with an inclination of his head, "tis an honour to meet you. Do tell me more about this school."

"Ah, Hogwarts be the work of me, Helga, Rowena, and Salazar. Us four friends pooled our fortunes together to acquire the castle after the muggles abandoned it half finished. We finished the rest of the construction and are now dedicating ourselves to teaching the youth."

"A noble sentiment," Harry mused, walking alongside Godric through the town center. They passed by a broomstick store, and Harry wondered genuinely whether the broomsticks flew, or if they were just for sweeping.

They passed by a large house like structure with a creaky wooden sign swinging titled 'Dwarven Construction, since 964'. Harry couldn't help but ask Godric if he knew anything, and the man divulged, "We hired them to finish off the castle. A bunch of the older dwarves who aren't so good at fighting, trying to make some gold for the dwarven kingdom. They're hard workers, and have some fascinating machines that build abnormally quickly. They finished with our castle in a month, did you know they can make flushing toilets. They somehow connected the plumbing to the great lake, genius I tell you."

Godric seemed lost in his own thoughts as they walked, so Harry simply enjoyed listening in to the various conversations. As they left the busy town and wandered through some nature, Godric seemed to return to focus, so Harry asked, "What do you mean by fighting? Is there some sort of war they're trying to fund?"

"Aye, you've a sharp mind," Godric responded. "There be some necromancers raising the dead, causing a bunch of chaos I tell you. The king sent several thousand of his soldiers to fight alongside the elves and the dwarves, but from what I heard they were quite heavily battered. Expected as much, fighting inferni. They can raise an army of hundreds from the grave, though bah, I say."

Harry stowed that information away in his mind, content to listening Godric regale a tale of him duelling several opponents. It seemed that Godric was adept with the blade, and less so with the wand. Harry listened intently as the man described a particularly brutal with Slytherin in detail.

"He fights like a serpent, that coot. Always on the defensive and waiting for an opportunity to strike. See I charged him with the blade as he's got some nasty curses up his sleeve, He keeps his distance and unleashes a cutting curse at me, but I deflect it with my blade, beautiful piece I tell you, made by the best goblins after I saved a smith's life. Anyways so I carve the curse and continue charging at the man, and he finally pulls out his blade, shorter and lighter than mine but much more nimble, the petty thing. He holds the blade with both his hand, barely stopping me from cleaving him before dropping it and firing a spell at me point blank range, cutting me damn good."

He looked pensive, and Harry couldn't help but admire the man's spirit. From his research, ignoring the romanticized and blemished tales of myth and focusing on reliable sources, the man had been an exceptional dueller, though magically he was only above average for his time. Harry smiled and nodded along until they arrived at the edge of the lake, walking to a small dock where a lone rowboat was tied, reminding Harry of the rowboats he went on during his first year to Hogwarts.

"Hop on in, I'll row us across in no time," Godric said cheerfully, and Harry sat himself on the boat dutifully, ignoring the slight queasiness he felt at the lurching motion of the ship. Godric was clearly strong, if his strokes were anything to go by, and in mere minutes, they had traversed the lake and made it to the island.

"As ye can see, tis flat grassland, perfect if you want to make a nice home fer yerself and for a misses maybe? Anyways, feel free to have a look around, I'll just be waiting here." Harry nodded, kneeling to the ground and planting a hand on the ground. He allowed his magic to flare, enhancing his senses as he felt for the magic. He could feel three ley lines running, its epicenter concentrated right at the center of the island. Harry's eyes widened, he knew that Hogwart's wards had been strong drawing strength from two ley lines, and he could only imagine the effect of having three power his wards. With a smile, he returned to Godric, who seemed to be in awe of his display of magic.

"I am impressed, he is the gold," Harry said, pouring out twenty two galleons and handing them to Godric. "And just curious, but would there be an open position for teaching at Hogwarts?"

Godric pocketed the coins, rubbing his beard that looked like a red lion's mane as he offered, "What can ye teach?"

"Defensive magic. Certain...circumstance forced me to become adept in the field. I can hold my own in other subjects, but I would be well suited to teaching spellwork and defence against magical creatures as well."

"What creatures have ye faced?" Godric asked, slightly doubtful of his abilities. Harry didn't blame him, while he had kept in shape while learning thousand upon thousands of ways to inflict pain and kill, both magical and muggle, he was not the most impressive sight outwardly.

"I've faced a Basilisk, a hippogriff, a dragon, grindylows, dementors, trolls, giants and many more. As for spellwork I defeated a very powerful dark wizard from where I came from, fulfilling a prophecy and bringing down an empire."

"Hmm, that does sound impressive. Show me just how powerful you are, and I'll consider taking you to the other founders," Godric challenged. Harry merely smiled as he cast an overpowered maxima ventus, planting them as the epicenter of a tornado of water as it swirled around the island. If Godric was surprised before he was stunned now, watching dumbly as Harry's eyes sparkled green in concentration. After holding it for a minute he reigned in his power, and the tornado died down into nothing.

"Aye, I'll take you tonight to the other founders. Meet me at the gate of the castle at sunset, and join us for dinner. Hop onto the boat, unless you plan on staying here," Godric said. Harry merely smiled as he visualized the town center and disapparating, the last thing him seeing being Gryffindor's jaw drop in shock.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry walked past the broomstick store again, and couldn't help but wonder just how much better his firebolt mk3 was compared to these brooms. It had been a dent in the Black vaults, but well worth it to launch surprise attacks at unsuspecting Death Eaters, whizzing around them in an aerial attack. But his destination was the dwarves, and he walked into their queer shop, smiling slightly at the cheerful chime of the bell.

"Welcome human, have you got a job for us? We'll build anything you can think of in no time, provided you have the gold. We charge quite the galleon, but you can have anything in your imagination, flushing toilets, moving stairs, maybe some defences as well?" the lead dwarf asked. If he expected Harry to be in awe of the idea of such contraptions he was sorely disappointed, as Harry didn't bat an eyebrow, handing over a map of the plot of land he had just purchased from the founders.

"I want to have a tower fortress built. The best defences you can possibly fit, both magical and muggle. I'll need a wardstone too. Make sure there is a greenhouse, a potion lab, a library and the usual amenities."

"Bold proposal, do you have the gold to back it up? Based on the map you give us, the tower will be three hundred and sixty feet. We'll take a hundred and fifty galleons, but we'll be done by a month."

"If I make it two hundred can you find some more dwarves and get it by the week?" Harry asked. With the elixir of life he would live forever, or until he got careless, but childish as it was he wanted his fortress as soon as possible.

The dwarf's eyes gleamed as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Ar, that'll be a challenge. Maybe for two twenty-"

"Done," Harry said excitedly. The dwarf looked positively ecstatic as he hopped up and shook his hand. He watched the dwarf's eye glow as he counted out two hundred and twenty golden galleons, setting them in several neat piles on the counter.

The dwarf pulled out a contract, scribbling quickly before handing it to Harry for inspection. The dwarf covered the general agreement of the tower, to be completed in a week. He signed off with a blood quill before shaking the hand of the dwarf again, storing the agreement in his pocket as he left them to begin planning the construction of his new home.

He cast a tempus to see it was around two in the afternoon, and decided to head to the Three Broomsticks for a late lunch. The inn was a bit less busy than usual, so he got himself a booth in the corner and placed an order for lunch.

"Mind if I sit here?" a jovial voice asked. Harry looked up to see a tall, old man with a cheery smile looking at him, wearing some formal robes. Harry's passive legilimency revealed the man was old, sixty years of age, quite wealthy but humble and frugal. He was in charge of the town and was curious.

"By all means," Harry invited, gesturing for the seat. He nodded his head in thanks as he climbed into the booth and settled down.

"Where are me manners, I'm John Craighton, town council elderman. I can't help but notice you're new around here. Just passing by, staying with family?"

"I just bought a nice patch of land to settle on, thinking about working at Hogwarts as well. This is one of the few mostly magical villages, and here I can feel right at home."

John extended his hand and Harry pulled it in for a firm handshake. "Then on behalf of Hogsmeade welcome to our humble abode."

A young girl, around five foot four, set a plate with an omelette on it in front of John. Harry raised a curious eyebrow at the girl, who seemed to fluster for a moment before she quickly left to serve the other tables.

"I can't help but notice your meal was brought before you ordered. You frequent here often?" Harry questioned.

"Everyday, if I can make it. Never have the time te cook, and haven't found a misses yet. You come alone, or is there a misses anywhere?" he asked with a wink.

"I came alone, family died in a war back home. Maybe one day there'll be a misses, but certainly not yet. Can you tell me more about the village?"

"Indeed, Hogsmeade is more a city than a village. We have a population of four thousand magicals and around six thousand three hundred muggles. Up north several miles there's a village with a force of several thousand dwarves, elves and soldiers, but you don't need to worry about that. Most of the muggles here don't mind magic, the worst of them left years ago."

"And what about the founders? What's your opinion of them?" Harry inquired, genuinely interested.

"Nice people, they bought up much of the land and spent their fortunes finishing the castle. We'll be the beacon for all things magical once they start teaching. Poor Godric lost his wife a few years back, poor man's only thirty. Helga's a nice woman, loves her plants. Slytherin's the one to watch out for, he's a nasty fellow. Has a son that's just as wicked with a wand too. Both always going on about muggles and blood purity, humbag I tell you."

Harry wasn't least surprised by the reputation Salazar had built up. He had enjoyed the long debates about blood purity and inbreeding with the portrait of Salazar, with the portrait conceding only that the stagnation of the magical population meant that within circumstance muggleborns were needed, even if he didn't approve of the fact that they often disregarded magical culture. Harry had often retorted with the argument that the magicals failed to educate the muggleborns, and he conceded that the Hogwarts of Harry's time had failed in its job. It would be interesting to see how Salazar would react. Salazar had forced him to swear an oath to kill him and his son should he ever create a horcrux.

Harry doubted that even the death of the Slytherins would rid the world of such abominations, though its use certainly would be much less prevalent. Lord Voldemort would still be born, for he was not a true descendant of Slytherin. Parestongue was not Salazar's creation, contrary to popular belief, rather he was one of the most famous host to the ability.

"And what of Rowena Ravenclaw?" Harry asked intrigued.

"She's the quietest of the four, and the youngest too. I reckon she's twenty three this year. Not much to say about her, if I'm being honest."

Internally, Harry scoffed. Salazar might have been his mentor, and in duelling he would admire Slytherin all his life, but in academia Ravenclaw would always be his idol. If legends were anywhere close to reality he would not mind befriending Ravenclaw, or perhaps something more.

Outside, Harry merely smiled politely. "Thank you for your insights. If you'll excuse me, I must prepare for my dinner with the founders. It has been a pleasure meeting you, edelman Craighton."

"Please, just call me John, I'm no noble lord, I don't like flaunting my title," he said with a wave.

"Then call me Harry, lord Potter is simply too aristocratic," Harry said with a smile before leaving. He noticed the slight paling of the elderman hidden underneath a casual smile, and he smirked to himself. He might prove a useful ally in the future, afterall.

Wandering through the markets, Harry pondered what gifts he would give to the founders, if any. He had no idea whether the custom existed yet, and decided to play it safe, heading to the weaponsmith and purchasing a dagger with a small emerald encrusted on its hilt. He searched for a weapon suitable for Godric, but nothing caught his eyes so he settled for some leather gloves and a wand holster. With Helga's love of plants, a stop at the apothery to buy some essence of mandrake made for his third gift.

It was the final gift that had Harry's mind running most furiously. He knew he wanted to give her either a book or a scroll. Bokks were extremely rare, so he decided to go down that route, spending an hour browsing through the small collection in the scrollstore. Finally, he came across an ancient Egyptian tome that caught his eye, and he inquired it with the storekeeper.

"Ar, a rare beauty. A traveller stopped by several months ago passing by, sold it to me to pay off some debts. Quite expensive though, it'll cost ye two galleons. Good eye though, many intellectuals have eyed it, though none bought it yet."

"I'll take it," Harry said without hesitation, handing the two galleons to an astounded shop owner before leaving quickly, lest the shopkeeper have second thoughts. This gift easily cost treble of all the other gifts combined, but Harry didn't mind, it was a drop in the ocean with his wealth.

He could see the sun was almost ready to set, and quickly headed back to the inn and his room, casting a cleaning spell on himself and straightening out his robes before visualizing the gate of Hogwarts, disapparating with a pop.


	4. Chapter 4

"You can apparate?" Harry smiled at the beautiful young woman in front of him, wearing an elegant blue and bronze robe with a raven crest. Bowing as was custom, he held his hand out expectantly, smiling further when she offered it so he could plant a kiss on it. He didn't miss the creeping blush as his lips met her hand, and he gave a mischievous wink looking up before recovering.

"Indeed, Lady Ravenclaw. It is an honour to meet you at last. Lord Gryffindor seems only to rave on about his duels with Lord Slytherin and his failed advances on Lady Hufflepuff, I myself admit curiosity towards you, fair lady."

She met his eyes, being slightly shorter in stature, though close enough so their heads were almost level. "You flatter me, Lord Potter. Godric has been singing praises of your prowess. I myself also admit to being curious to you."

Harry didn't know what came over him, but at that moment, he had decided that his lackluster love life would end today, and that that he was going to start using the 'potter charm'. Flashing a brilliant smile, he teased, "Perhaps we could satiate each other's curiosity. But please, do not call me lord Potter, it makes me sound so old and aristocratic. I am just Harry."

"Then I am Rowena to you, Harry Potter," she said with a smile, looking slightly unsure of herself. Without waiting further, he took her offered hand and led her towards the great hall, silently enjoying her face run through several emotions as she tried to put together a retort.

"Godric, good to see you again. Lord Slytherin, Lady Hufflepuff, an honour to meet you both," Harry said cheerfully as he and Rowena walked up to the head table. Godric stood up to greet him, and Helga was only a step behind him. He shook both of their hands, ignoring Rowena's questioning look and taking a place between Godric and Rowena.

"I believe it's customary for a guest to bring gifts, so allow me to present you with mine. Lord Gryffindor, a wand holster and gloves for your duels. Lady Hufflepuff, some essence of mandrake for your wonderful greenhouses. Lord Slytherin, a dagger for you, may you never be forced to use it."

He handed them all their gifts and their began admiring them. Harry couldn't help but admire the fact that Ravenclaw did not allow her surprise or disappointment at a lack of gift to show. While they were distracted, he leaned over to he and whispered, "I'll give you yours later, if you'd be willing to have an academic discussion."

She nodded in agreement, and surprisingly it was Salazar that spoke up first. "Godric tells me that you're interested in a job teaching magical defence. Care to explain why you should be chosen?"

"Of course. I have both theoretical and practical knowledge, and I can teach children quite easily. I've taught children from ages twelve through to eighteen, and a few adults as well."

"Perhaps you would care to demonstrate your practical knowledge?" Salazar asked. Helga gave a disapproving look, Godric looked offended on his behalf and Rowena had a calculating look, but Harry just smiled.

"I would expect nothing less. Perhaps a friendly duel? It is not often that one meets a duelling legend, afterall."

"Diffindo!" Salazar cast suddenly, to the outrage of everyone else. Harry merely batted away the spell lazily, sending it into the wall. Harry waved his wand quickly, conjuring ropes and binding Salazar with a binding spell.

"Salazar, how could you attack a guest at the dinner table?" Godric reprimanded.

"I'm not the one tied down like a prisoner, besides, he was not harmed," Salazar replied coolly. Harry couldn't help but wonder what he did that triggered Salazar. After all, the man made the portrait that mentored him for a decade around this time.

Harry released him from the binds, flashing Rowena a wink. She suddenly found her plate very interesting as Salazar sneered, "Good luck trying to flirt with her. She's married to her scrolls and books. She probably wouldn't know a man from a woman if she hadn't read about it."

"Salazar!" both Helga and Godric exclaimed at the same time. Rowena stood up without a word and stormed off, with Harry following her soon after. He followed her all the way up Ravenclaw tower, hearing a door slam with a bang.

Cautiously, he approached the door, hearing ginger sobbing. Harry felt his heart clench for some reason, perhaps sympathizing with the bullying he faced both with the Dursleys and at school. He knocked gently, hearing a particularly loud sniff before soft footsteps were followed be an open door.

"Forgive me Lord Potter, you must think me as so weak," she said with a sarcastic laugh. Harry felt an urge to wipe the tears off her beautiful cheek, but settled for wrapping her in a tight hug. He felt her tense up for a moment before relaxing in his embrace.

"I would never think that of you, Lady Ravenclaw. Pay Salazar no heed, he is merely jealous of your wisdom," Harry comforted. It wasn't the best line, but given he had never even dated in his short life as the chosen one eliciting a laugh from Rowena was an achievement in its own.

"Ugh, look at me, a grown woman crying on the shoulder of a stranger while my friends ignore me. It speaks either volumes about you or them, which I have yet to decide," she mused sardonically. Harry led he to her bedside where they both sat down, his arm wrapped around her while she leaned in close to his side.

"It is natural to cry, though I hope we won't be strangers soon. Perhaps it is time I present my gift to you," he said, pulling out the Egyptian tomes. The way her hazelnut eyes widened made every knut worth it in Harry's eyes, and he couldn't help a tingling warm feeling when he saw her shed some of her sadness.

"I must protest, this gift is much too expensive for a first. I suspect you knew I was eyeing this tome, though I do not know why I do not mind."

"What is a couple galleons compared to knowledge. I believe you yourself are famous for saying 'wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure,'" Harry replied with a smile. It puzzled him that he felt a flurry of excitement and tenderness with someone he had only just met, and he wondered if this was how true friendships were.

"I...why are you doing this? No man has ever paid any heed to an intellectual woman. Tell me more about yourself and the land you come from."

Harry did his best to contain a chuckle at her blunt inquisitiveness, regaling, "I have a respect for those who try their hardest in their field: just as I respect Godric and Salazar for their duelling prowess, or Helga for her kindness and herbology, I respect you as an intellectual. Where I came from, my path was a lonely one, for people either wanted to use me or destroy me. My life was bound by a prophecy since before I was born, so I trained for much of my childhood before fulfilling it."

"And what was this prophecy?" she blurted out. Seeing Harry's mood darken she quickly backtracked, "Forgive me, it is not my place to ask."

"Nae, but I've been looking for a trusted soul to share my burden with, and my heart tells me I can trust you. For a decade before I was born, there was a powerful dark lord who led hundred of followers. He was gaining more followers and power everyday. There was a prophecy made before I was born, I know not the exact wording, but in essence it claimed that the dark lord and a child were bound by destiny such that only one could defeat the other. So the dark lord searched long and hard, finding this prophesied child. He killed both the boy's parents before firing the killing curse at the young infant, but something remarkable happened. The sacrifice of the mother gave the boy a fighting chance, and the curse rebounded to the dark lord, destroying his body."

Harry paused, considering his words before continuing, "But the dark lord was not destroyed, he tethered on the verge of death for a decade, but managed to return, and began quietly building his forces again. While most of society rejoiced, a powerful and influential man sent the boy away to magic hating muggles, allowing him to suffer for a decade. Now most of society refused to believe his return, allowing him to easily grow stronger. Those who did looked to this boy to be their savior again, but the powerful wizard had a smarter idea. If he sacrificed the boy to the dark lord, then the dark lord would be vulnerable again, no longer bound by the prophecy. However, this man was injured by a curse trying to recover an artifact, and was killed by the dark lord's followers. Leaving the young boy with no guidance, a society that thought his delusional for believing in the return of the dark lord, and without a plan, this young boy decided to bide his time, going into hiding and training, striking at the dark lord's forces whenever he could. Then after many years, with the dark lord on the verge of victory, the boy, having grown up into a man, finally went and destroyed the dark lord. The dark lord had marked his followers and bound them, so with his downfall his loyalest and most powerful fell as well. But the society was a prejudiced one. Many powerful purebloods still wrangled control of the government, and continued to discriminate against muggle borns and half bloods. The man knew that society would not heal, and decided he wanted no part in it, packing the possessions he had and leaving without looking back."

"And you were this boy," Rowena said in realization. Harry gave her a sad smile as he nodded to her.

"Do tell me more about yourself, I've been rambling long enough to have not heard your sweet voice." She leaned in slightly closer to him, resting her head against his shoulder and beginning to play with her long, black hair as she began.

"My parents died when I was young, and I was taken in by a healer to become her daughter and apprentice. In my spare time, I found that I loved reading, and she encouraged me to study, helping me learn magic as well. It was just like that for a long time until I met the other three founders. They told me about how they wanted to start a school, and I was all for it, helping them achieve their dream, and after a few years of hard work here I am, talking to you and about to start teaching a new generation of students."

"You give yourself far too little credit, but alas it is not my place to pry. Perhaps in time you will trust me enough to regale the full tale, but until then I shall sit in my place and wait."

His disarming smile stopped her from attempting to deny the fact. He stood up, picking up her hand and planting a gentle kiss in it, perhaps lingering a bit longer than appropriate, and giving another mischievous wink. "I should hope Helga stopped Godric and Salazar from going at each other's throats. Regardless, I shall take my leave. Goodnight, lady Ravenclaw."

"Rowena, call me Rowena. You have earned that right tonight."

"In that case, sleep well, Rowena. I shall see you soon." Harry left her room, closing the door carefully behind him before concentrating on the Three Broomsticks and disapparating.

His thoughts were dominated by one lady as he closed his eyes lying on the bed of his room. She could be his equal, his anchor to life, and that was a thought that he was in no way prepared to have. It should have been simple, befriend Salazar and prevent him from going down a dark path before living as a rich noble. Yet fate had once again thrown him a curveball, dangling the impossibly attractive Rowena in front of him and just taunting him to ignore her.


	5. Chapter 5

Rowena Ravenclaw found herself lost once again. She had loathed the beginning of the day, kickstarted by an argument between Salazar and Godric on whether to accept muggleborns. Seeing as they had little way of finding muggleborns in the first place it was beyond Rowena why they bothered arguing, but such was the nature of their tenuous friendship. Helga had busied herself playing the mediator before growing restless and going to tend to her greenhouses. Rowena had been in no mood to watch them, so locked herself in her tower reading scrolls on spell creation and dreaming about owning an ancient Egyptian tome that popped into the local scrollstore several months prior. But with the already strained budget of Hogwarts having eaten into her personal savings, she had no way to afford it, so contented herself in dreaming. The scrollstore owner had barred her from entering the scrollstore unless she began buying things, telling her it wasn't a woman's place to study, so she had no way of accessing the damned book.

It was in the late afternoon that Godric returned from what she initially presumed was a round of drinking at the local tavern after the argument with Salazar, but instead he had announced that they had finally sold the land near Hogwarts for a full twenty two galleons, giving her a budget of five full galleons to spend on building a library collection. She had immediately rushed off to the scrollstore, intent on purchasing the tome, only to be told that a mere hour before a new local had purchased it. She had sullenly purchased several dozen books and scrolls for the library, spending two galleons on it all after haggling for a bit.

When she returned to Hogwarts having completed her purchases she found Godric and Salazar once again arguing, this time over inviting the mysterious buyer for dinner. She had learnt from their heated arguing that the man who bought the land was apparently very powerful, and interested in a teaching job. Salazar had been dead set against it, while Godric refused to back down having already invited the man. Rowena had contented herself with merely watching uninterested for dinner, but when the two showed no sign of stopping and it was almost dinnertime, she had taken it upon herself to greet the man at the castle gates.

Her first surprise was when the man apparated right in front of her, and silently at that. Only a few of the elders were able to apparate, and they had all refused to teach her. Rowen had tried asking Godric or Salazar to learn the art before teaching her, but Godric wasn't interested in anything not related to transfiguration, duelling or insulting Salazar, while Salazar was interested in nothing other than potions and insulting Godric. She had long given up trying to confide in Helga, who was only interested in loving Godric at a distance and caring for her plants.

But an intellectual woman had little where to go. Her parents had passed away when she was young, leaving her to fend for herself. Luckily, a healer had taken her in, raising her and later apprenticing her, as well as introducing her to the world of magic. Shs had studied with a passion in her free time, and excelled at the fields of armithacy and charms. She had tried her hand at duelling but was not as adept as many of the men, so gave it up in favour of throwing herself fully at her books. Few men had shown interest in her, mostly put out by her intelligence and her lackluster romane. After refusing to bed with a foreign suitor, rumors had been circulated about her chastity, and most men never bothered approaching her again. Similarly, she had long given up on finding a man who would be interested in her, instead devoting herself to her studies, with healing as her profession.

Then she had met Godric and Salazar at age twenty. They told her that they wanted to start a school to teach magical children, and naively thinking that her talents would be finally appreciated, she had eagerly signed on as one of the four founders, joining the brave Godric Gryffindor, the cunning Salazar Slytherin and the hard working Helga Hufflepuff. Yet as she became involved in designing Hogwarts and arranging for the logistics, it became clear that Godric was only interested in duelling others, Salazar was intent on picking fights with Godric or spending obscene amounts on rare potion ingredients for merlin knows what and Helga, while nice and hard working, had little practical experience, spending most of the time tending to her plants, collecting ingredients in the Forbidden Forest or trying to break up Godric and Salazar's childish fights.

It was her that negotiated the deal to buy the castle and the grounds, wrangling their finances to the extreme to put together the fifty galleons, or around one thousand pounds. That amount had gotten the king to give sovereignty of the three hundred acres of land that consisted of Hogsmeade, along with its castle. Salazar had been depressed for months as she had cut nearly all of his potions budget, while Godric's drinking money had been cut to a cup a day. Much of Helga's plants were sold off, just to pull the deal off, but along with collecting donations from several thousand magicals and taking out some high interest loans from the goblins they had accomplished it, and magicals in Britain now had a town to themselves.

Thousands of magicals flocked to join the village, swelling the population as much of the muggle population moved down south or to the east. Still some remained, and paid into the taxes. Most of the money went straight into repaying the goblins, who eased off their pressure by reducing the debt owed in exchange for being allowed to set up banks and switching all of the muggle currency into goblin galleons, sickles and knuts.

Even with the war against some necromancers raging up north, one of the reason they had managed to get control of the village at a relatively low cost from the original lord, the town prospered. After much deliberation, they had decided to continue construction of the half finished castle and use it as a school. Rowena had initially argued against it, citing the extremely high cost and the lack of a need for such a large structure, but the other three had been adamant, and she did what she did best, wrangling the finances of the town until they had enough to pay a band of dwarves to finish construction of the castle. She herself had worked on the design, incorporating some basic magical defences as well as setting up the ward scheme.

Yet even with such a large project under their belt the three founders rarely recognized her unless it was to ask for something, and Rowena Ravenclaw had continued on her existence miserably, hoping that one day fate would smile upon her.

It seemed that today was the day, as the man immediately kissed her hand and introduced himself as Harry Potter. She was initially skeptical, expecting him to be yet another of the verbose and flamboyant duelling champions that Godric had been beaten by, yet he was mild mannered and followed tradition to the tooth and nail, in spite of his claims to dislike aristocracy. She had been impressed by the fact he had brought gifts for the others, as was tradition, if slightly disappointed that she did not receive anything. But why would he care what Ravenclaw thinks, she despaired. Yet this was not to be, for he promised a gift to her later. The rest of the meal was spent with bubbling excitement until Salazar had decided to insult her in front of the guest.

She remembered the feeling of dread overwhelming her. She had thought that was the moment this mysterious arrival would realize that Rowena was just a simple intellectual and lose any interest in her. Already embarrassed to have their guest be attacked by Salazar in the middle of the meal and then for Godric and Salazar to start going at each other, she had decided to cut her losses and just leave, unable to handle meeting Harry Potter in the eye.

Yet the unthinkable happened. He had followed her to check on her, comforting her when her own friends were busy bickering downstairs. When she broke down crying she half expected him to run away terrorized, or perhaps to laugh at her, but he wordlessly closed the distance between them and wrapped her in a hug, and the feeling of warmth and comfort she was able to draw from it opened up feelings she long thought lost forever.

He had then patiently answered her questions, regaling his tale about fighting a mysterious dark lord before leaving his homeland and coming to Hogsmeade. He had then taken the time to ask about her, and her heart fluttered as she clumsily gave a closed off summary of her life. One look at his charming smile had stopped her from even thinking of retorting when he mused that she did not add much substance to her life story.

When he had left her side, she had been sorely tempted to reach out and pull him back to her side, feeling as though he was everything her life had lacked up to that point, at least until she realized how awkward it would be to invite a man she had known for little more than a failed dinner for.

When he left she felt a tingling warm sensation linger in her heart. It seemed that fate had finally answered her call and gifted her a partner in things. As she lay down closing her eyes, her thoughts lingered on the green eyed wizard with a mop of messy black hair.


	6. Chapter 6

Harry apparated to the small dock at the edge of the lake, seeing the looming tower fortress built atop the island. It was a light grey column reaching for the sky, with a battlement and its paraphets at the top of the structure overlooking the lake like a beacon.

Harry concentrated on the dock on the island, and through tunnel apparition found himself there in a split second. The lead dwarf came out of the tower's entrance, a large set of double oak doors. "Welcome, lord Potter. Here's your new tower, done and dusted. Why don't we go for a quick tour? You've seen the dock already, we've just changed out the planks with some fresh ones and made the deck longer."

Harry followed the dwarf inside, where they descended down the spiral staircase and into a cellar. "Here's a safe room, if you will. Contains a small storeroom, bed and toilet for you to use in case of an attack. The wardstone is also here for you to use."

The dwarf merrily led Harry back up the steps and up the tower. "The first floor is the storage room, there are some shelves for you to put things on," the dwarf said, gesturing towards through an open door. The magically expanded room was large and circular, with the staircase winding around the room as they ascended. They left the storage room and began climbing until they reached another door.

"This is the second floor, it contains the armoury, as well as a training room. We've got some weights, a running wheel and a few training dummies for you to work with. The armoury we've stocked with a few swords and shields, if you want more we'll happily sell you some weapons, seeing as you're our largest client since Hogwarts."

"Indeed, I want a set of armour, a sword, a dagger, and a shield, if that is possible. How much would that cost?"

"Hah, I knew ye'd ask. We have a set prepared, it'll be fifty galleons. Expensive, but that's what the finest work of dwarven smiths cost." Harry handed over the coins without batting an eye, and the dwarf pulled out a chest from the corner and opened it, pulling out a full set of battle armour, a longsword, a kite shield and a short sword. He put a palm over the armour and ran his magic through it, testing its strength and looking for any cracks. But dwarven armor smiths were far more skilled than their human counterparts, and Harry found no weakness in the armour. Confident in the quality, he followed the dwarf out of the second floor and continued ascending the stairs upwards.

"Right, the third floor is the potion lab. You'll have to stock it yourself, as we dwarves won't pretend we're any good at them. I'm sure it's not too much trouble." Harry followed the dwarf out and up again without comment, and they reached the fourth floor. "Right, this is the library, it's huge, it'll be big enough for all the scrolls and tomes you have. I'm sure you can charm them to magically sort themselves, otherwise we do have a mechanical system to swap the shelves around so you can reach the top shelves."

Harry made a mental note to begin working on charming the equipment the dwarves provided. It seemed that the extent of the magic they used was in speeding up construction and magically expanding the rooms.

"Right, fifth floor, here is the kitchen and the dining room. Anyways, you might see the barrel on the side there, we filled it with some Dwarven ale, it's on us," he said jovially. "We've also stocked it with some food, though you might want to do one of your stasis charms unless you plan on eating a feast soon." Harry added that to his mental to do list, and continued onwards.

"Right, sixth floor, here is the master bedroom and study. There's a fully stocked bathroom with plumbing water from the lake, and all the furnishing you need is here. Nice big balcony for you to look out of too. You can also control the defences here, just flip the switch by the bedside and the stairs turn into a slide, and water will flush it. Anyways, I won't bother taking you to the seventh floor or the roof. Seventh floor is just a few guest bedrooms, and the roof has five ballistas, so that's got the entire edge of the lake covered. They're strong enough to fire a bit into the woods, and we've got several crates of bolts up there, so you'll be safe and sound if anyone dares invade. If we're done, I'll take my leave, it's taken a hundred of us a long time to get this tower finished."

"Thank you, if I have any construction needs I'll be sure to find you," Harry dismissed. The dwarf happily left him in his new bedroom, and began descending down the staircase. Harry did a quick inspection of his new room, white had a large king sized bed beside the balcony. A large drawer, a mirror and two chairs were the only other pieces of furniture in the room. Walking through a trabeation (a fancy term he picked up for a doorway without a door), he found himself in a study, where two large bookcases flanked a large desk by a window. Returning to the bedroom, he went through the door to find an ample bathroom, with a large bathtub being fed by a tap in the wall and draining itself. A faucet and a flushing chamberpot was also present, and Harry decided that the dwarves were way beyond muggles, who he read were often still using dirt holes as toilets.

He descended down the staircase, the first order of business being to carve some runes and activate the wards. He had spent much of the week after the dinner with the founders working out exactly how he wanted it, and was confident he could carve out all the necessary runes within the hour. It was much easier with a millenia's worth of advancement in warding from his time, and even with magical stagnation he was confident that the towers wards would be some of the strongest in the world. Most of them would lay dormant until he activated them with the word 'snitch' or if he willed it through his magic. He had incorporated blood wards for the very reason they could work based on intent.

Taking out his trusted ritual knife, he spent the next two hours carving and double checking the entire scheme before powering it with three drops of his blood. He felt the magic ripple before expanding, with the first layer expanding to the edge of his property, the second layer extending to the edge of the lake, and the third, final and strongest covering the island. Pleased with his work, he wiped the sweat from his brow and quickly healed his finger before leaving the runestone.

Climbing back up the tower to his bedroom, he eyed the fireplace and wondered how long it would take for someone to invent the floo. If he was not mistaken Rowena had invented it, though when he was not certain. He cursed the fact that he didn't bring his broomstick, and took two steps back before sprinting towards the balcony and leaping out, falling to the ground before he cast a levitation spell on himself, slowing his descent until his feet touched the ground. His appetite for dramatism satiated, he disapparated to the Three Broomsticks.

The room he had lived for in a week was spartan to say the least. A bed, a desk and a chamberpot in the corner of the small room was the extent of the furnishings. Compared to a cupboard it was generous, but even living in hiding he had faced better accommodations.

He quickly cast a packing spell on the few items he had taken out, filling them inside his trunk. He gave his trusty trunk a gentle and affectionate pat before summoning the roomkey hung on the coat hanger, going downstairs and tossing it to Edgar.

"Thanks for the room, I've finally found a place to move into," Harry said with a nod. Edgar, busy serving meals to the tables, gave him a smile and a wave before turning back to serving his patrons. Harry went back upstairs, recovering his trunk and apparating back to his new bedroom.

"The resurrection stone and the philosopher's stone are definitely staying in the trunk. My robes can go into the wardrobe, and the books and scrolls into my study. The food in the trunk can stay in case of emergencies, and the gold is fine inside," he mused to himself. His mind set, he allowed his magic to flare, and the clothes flew out, arranging themselves into the wardrobe while the scrolls and tomes streaked through the room and into the study before arranging themselves onto the shelves.

Harry wandered down to the kitchen, where he quickly began casting stasis charms on everything there. He wondered how the dwarf knew about them, supposing that they weren't invented till much later, but reasoned that the history books had simply gotten it wrong. He slightly regretted not getting more potion ingredients into the trunk, for back in the two thousands it was convenient to go to the apothecary for most ingredients. However potions had never been his interest, and he had enough of a supply of healing and strength potions to last several wars. Finishing by casting the needed charms on three large roast chickens, he wandered down to the empty potion lab, making a list of what he needed to acquire.

"Potion stands, cauldrons, flasks, ingredients," he listed out loud as he scanned the room, spotting several vent holes and admiring the thoughtfulness of the dwarves. He went down the stairs and into the armoury, where he saw the training dummies lying there. Casting animation spells on them and having them arm themselves with wands, swords and shields, he willed for them to guard the tower, and they began heading off to various spots in the tower, not unlike how Hogwarts' suits of armour worked.

Making it to the ground floor, he stepped out the entrance and into the large grassfield at the basin of the tower. He found himself looking out at the water, until a small dot coming from the direction of the forbidden forest emerged in the sky, before growing larger and larger.

It was a brown owl, which flew several circles around the tower before descending down to him with a hoot, sticking out its foot with a note attached.

_Harry,_

_Apologies the dinner ended so poorly. Helga made me and Salazar do some stuff for the school, so I was unable to contact you prior. Anyways, we agreed, though not unanimously, that you'd be welcome to teach at Hogwarts. You'd be teaching defence against creatures and charms alongside Rowena. Speaking of which, she was quite adamant that you be given the position, what did you do to convince her? Anyways stop by sometime through the week so we can work out how to sort out a schedule to teach._

_Godric _

Harry's thoughts returned to Rowena again. He felt bad not having checked up on her for the week, but she had not contacted him and it seemed inappropriate to try and pry his way into her life. Trying to brush aside these thoughts, he decided to go wander to the wider reaches of the village, perhaps visiting some farms or village shops.


	7. Chapter 7

Harry wandered through the dirt roads deep into the countryside. It had started just as a walk to see the edge of the village, but an hour later he had begun to explore the countryside, finding that he quite enjoyed the feeling of walking.

"Well well well, what do we have here?" Harry was startled from his musings when several hooded figures leapt out of a bush, surrounding him threateningly. "A fancy wizard wandering out of their comfortable home?"

Harry sighed. "You have one chance to get out of my sight." The hooded figures laughed, and Harry figured that they were druids. Seeing two of them raising their hands, he quickly banished all of them wandlessly, following up with stunners. Stalking over to the unconscious leader, casting, "Legilimens!" He sieved through the druid's memories, especially intrigued by their abilities to cast magic with their wands. Quickly copying that knowledge into his own mind, he sieved through the other druids' minds, finding information on their camp to the west and more images of them terrorizing unsuspecting wizards and witches who wandered too far away from the edges of Hogsmeade.

"Obliviate!" Harry cast on all of them, stripping the leader of his uniform and his strange charmed pendant before turning back and apparating straight to his tower. Storing the druid's robes in the wardrobe carefully and putting the pendant on his study's desk, he disapparated with another pop straight to back to where he left the druids.

With a cold and calculating look, he cast Avada Kedavra on each of them, the sickly green jets of light striking each of their chests as their bodies became limp. They had made their first and last mistake: never attack Harry Potter.

Picturing their camp in his mind, he cast an incindio on their corpses before apparating away with a pop.

The druid camp has a smouldering fire at the center and several wooden huts surrounding it on stilts. Harry was unsure where he was exactly, but he knew he was in a marsh somewhere to the north west of Hogsmeade. He would have to learn more about the druids later, but for now, he searched their camp for anything interesting.

He entered the largest building first, only finding a few potion ingredients that he put in his pocket. There was an old, scrawny bed and an ancient wooden table with a chair tucked to one corner. It seemed that the druids lived a very spartan life, if their leader lived in such accommodations.

He exited the largest hut, heading to the one on its left. It appeared to be some sort of healer's wing, as there was a single bed in the middle of the room surrounded by racks of herbs and ingredients. He pulled out his expanded pouch and began shovelling everything in, guessing that with the druids' familiarity in herbology he would save several galleons at least. They had even been nice enough to label the ingredients, which would save him much time.

He left the hut feeling much happier at his trip already. Heading to the next several huts he found they were all devoid of furnishings except for a few straw beds. He scanned the rooms for anything of value, finding a few odd trinkets and possessions he assumed were stolen from their victims. He pocketed those as well, determined to study them to see if they could provide any information.

With that, he had finished exploring the entire camp. Harry pondered whether to raze the site to the ground, but decided on keeping it as a secret hideout. It seemed he had wiped out the small group of druids that formerly called the secluded site home, so it was unlikely anyone knew of the site. While he would have to work on furnishing, he was confident it would prove useful should the tower somehow fall victim to an attack.

Going to the center of the camp, he took out his trusty ritual knife and cut his palm. Muttering several incantations, he began carving out a few runes surrounding the base of the fire. It was a very rudimentary warding scheme, but with some strong muggle repelling charms, as well as subtle compulsion charms for wizards and witches to avoid the area, the few blood wards there were should be enough to deter most opponents.

He began trudging through the marshes, now fully appreciating why the fire was built on rock and the houses on stilts. The murky green hugged his feet, and every time he lifted his feet a sopping sound made it impossible to be inconspicuous.

Satisfied with his work, Harry disapparated with a pop, making a note to have the dwarves furnish the site so it would be more livable. Proper beds, a kitchen, a well and a toilet were all in order.

He spotted a faint glow hum from underneath the water. He bent down and peered at it, wand drawn, when suddenly a small nymph shot out of the water, giggling as she flew circles around Harry. He smiled as she rested on his shoulder, hopping up and down as she pointed towards a green blob in the distance.

"Slime?" Harry queried, and the nymph nodded with a shudder. "You want me to destroy the slime?" She bobbed her head up and down vigorously. Deciding he had nothing better to do and that the last thing he wanted was a slime infestation in his future property, he pulled out his wand and cast a powerful reducto.

The jet of light shot straight towards the green blob, and upon impact vaporized it in an instant, as well as sending a spray of marsh water up into the air.

"Are there any more?" Harry asked the nymph. She squinted her eyes and peered around before shaking her head.

"You're a wood nymph, aren't you. Do you want a tree to live in?" He chuckled as the nymph furrowed her brows in contemplation before nodding. Harry called upon his requisitioned druid training, feeling the magic from the swamp. He tossed out the seed of yew tree, tossing it into the swamp before calling on the magic of the swamp to fuel its growth.

His eyes shone brightly as a faint white aura surrounded him, and the nymph watched curiously as the tree sprouted to life, growing and growing until it was a good twelve meters tall. He tossed several more seeds for various fruit trees as well as other species, planting them in a circle around the group of houses in a sort of privacy barrier. He knew that if all went to plan he would soon drain the marsh and set up a proper base here, but for now was content with the fifty or so fully grown trees that now dotted the area.

The nymph looked positively ecstatic, planting a firm and wet kiss on his cheek before flying off to a nearby birch. He watched her happily as she fluttered around the various trees, shooting small beams of magic as she weaved in between the branches. The trees almost seem to radiate in vitality when she shot her magic, and Harry supposed that this was the magic that the modern world missed out on because of their destruction of nature.

Seeing that the nymph had finally decided to settle inside a spruce tree, lazing on one of the branches as she gave a dramatic yawn, Harry disapparated back to the village, in front of Dwarven company.

"Back so soon? Is something wrong?" the lead dwarf asked the moment he stepped in the door.

"Not to worry, I just have another job for you," Harry assured. The elf seemed relieved by this, pulling out parchment and a quill before looking at him attentively. "I recently acquired a small village property, it has six house structures, all of which need to be furnished with beds, wardrobes, desks, chairs and the like. I want a well dug, and for a proper toilet and kitchen to be built. If you could also drain the marsh up to the treeline that would be great. Oh, and also construct a small armoury and fill it up with some Dwarven weapons, I trust you to pick. Have enough for ten men. How much will that cost?"

"Hmm," the dwarf rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Thirty galleons and we'll have it done in three days."

"Three days?" Harry couldn't help but ask, "Where do you get the furniture so fast?"

"Ah, it's simple really. Most new residents have us build their houses since Hogwarts, and we've always kept a stock of furniture in advance so we can complete projects quickly. Anyways, how will we get there?"

Harry took his quill, and focusing on the swamp village he cast, "Portus." There, you'll be able to get there with whatever you're holding by simply saying 'village'. To come back just say 'Hogsmeade'. The portkey will wear out in three days, so if you need a delay find me."

"We won't need a delay, you'll have your village soon enough, right lads?" The other dwarves yelled their agreement, and Harry couldn't help but admire their spirits, Happily forking over the thirty galleons, a more than fair price in his opinion seeing as thirty galleons would have gotten him a half decent broomstick back in his time. He trusted the dwarves enough, and even if they tried to betray them they had no way of finding the hideout again once the portkey wore out.

"One more question, can I buy more of the dummies, they're quite ingeniously engineered." Harry asked. The dwarf merely chuckled as he pocketed another three galleons in exchange for fifty of the contraptions. The dwarf joked about him training up his own army, and Harry merely laughed along politely, after all, adding his own charms and transfigurations and having them guard his property was not far off from building his own army indeed. He silently thanked Voldemort for enjoying tinkering with them in his youth so much. He had spent a long time laughing at his inner circle getting beaten by training dummies in one on one practices that the dark lord supervised, and was glad he had been gifted the knowledge of how to enchant the dummies. It was an extremely complicated, time consuming and magically draining task, but with his power level, all the time in the world and a fierce determination to be protected, there was little stopping Harry.

Leaving the dwarves, he headed to the apothecary, deciding to get some more potions and ingredients before he forgot. He walked into the store, giving the young witch behind the counter a curt nod before wandering around and picking up what he needed. Three brass cauldrons and two bronze ones were shrunk down and pocketed, along with a dozen potion racks and several dozen glass flasks. A few ladles, and a helping of every ingredient they had in stock was also shrunk down.

Once he had finally finished getting everything, he went to the counter quite severely weighed down. The young girl pulled out a large piece of parchment and began tallying up the total, which rung up to no more than four galleons seven sickles, a steal in his opinion.

He was certain that his expanded pouch would explode in a violent fit of magic if he did not relieve it of its contents soon, so he hurriedly apparated back to the tower and cast an unpacking charm on the bag, which let out a puff as the ingredients he bought from the apothecary and requisitioned from the druid encampment began arranging themselves into the shelves. He pulled out the cauldrons and placed them by the wall next to the sinks beside the firewood stack. He doubted that he would ever brew potions, for even though he was not as bad as Snape made him out to be he was no prodigy even with the intellect of the defeated dark lord, having only ever focused on making healing potions, a few poisons and some explosive ones for area damage against death eaters.

He cast a tempus, seeing the time was just four o'clock. His thoughts traitorously returned to Rowena and wondering what she was doing. Studying alone in her tower, no doubt. He instinctively whistled for Hedwig, until he remembered that his faithful companion had been felled by a death eater's killing curse during his sixth year. He wasn't certain where he would find an owl, as he hadn't seen any pet shops in Hogsmeade, and doubted that such a thing was commonplace for the time. He would see if he could acquire an owl, but for now between going to the post office or apparating to Hogwarts to check up on his favourite founder her decided on the latter, hoping that she would appreciate the unexpected visit.


	8. Chapter 8

He sucked in a breath as he eyed her door. Having apparated straight to Ravenclaw tower, he suddenly felt a spur of hesitation as he wondered whether it was prudent to interrupt her. No doubt courtesy dictated he should have sent advance notice, yet another voice in his head just told him to knock.

"Coming!" He had knocked without thinking, and her melodic voice had wormed its way to his heart, filling it with a warm and fuzzy feeling. The door opened, and he was met with a Rowena wearing a casual blue dress with bronze trimmings. Her black hair was silky and damp, her cheeks a coloured pink and her hazelnut eyes twinkling like a pair of chocolate gems.

"Rowena, how are you?" he asked softly. His heart fluttered seeing a blush creep up her face as she opened the door fully and waved him inside. He sat himself on a stool while she sat on her bedside, braiding her hair shyly.

"I am well, Harry. It saddens me that you seemed more concerned about my welfare than the others. Godric has gone off to participate in some far flung duelling tournament with Salazar not far behind, and Helga has gone off to collect some plant essence. It has been lonely here, but alas it is the life of a scholar I suppose," she said with a sad smile.

"You are here in the castle alone?" Harry asked astounded, not believing that the other founders could be so irresponsible, with the first school year starting in just over a week's time. Realizing how blunt his question was phrased he was about to backtrack, but her rueful sigh caused his heart to clench.

"Indeed," she said sadly, "but I am not here to burden you with the troubles of a lonely woman. Congratulations, I should hope that Godric has told you that we have accepted your application as a teachers. Perhaps I should show you to your quarters, they are also in the tower."

"It seems that Godric only saw fit to send me an owl quite recently. I suppose that is to be expected. Perhaps you can tell me more about the castle as we embark on a tour, I find that walking is often a good drain for sorrows."

He offered her a hand and she interlinked her own with a blush. "Wise words from a wise man. Sometimes I do wonder why I had the dwarves construct a large castle, we're expecting but fifty students across seven years. This castle could hold thousands if not more. Makes me feel quite empty sometimes, wandering along the empty corridors."

"It leaves much room to expand in the future. Out of curiosity, where will the students sleep?"

"There are dorms in the dungeons and near the other founders' quarters. There are some dorms up here in Ravenclaw tower besides our own as well, but seeing as it would be a major inconvenience for students to trek up and down daily I doubt they will be occupied unless the student population expands. Why Salazar would think it attractive to live in a dungeon will always be beyond me."

"Perhaps he feels threatened by your intellect. It is quite poetic, no. You are in a tower reaching for the skies while he is buried beneath the earth. Speaks much to the character of you, does it not?"

"Oh hush you," Rowena chuckled, "flattery will only get you so far."

"Yet it seems the fair lady besides me is taking it in good spirits," Harry teased, waggling his own eyebrows. Where this playfulness came from was beyond him, but he decided that after defeating a dark lord he deserved to have some fun.

"You certainly have a way with words," she quipped, "perhaps having another man around won't be as dreadful as I initially believed. I would have thought that Godric would bring back another pompous duelling drunk, yet he surprises me by bringing you."

"I shall take that as a compliment," Harry said wryly. "Regardless, I must ask, why moving staircases? It seems that it would only serve to confuse students, no?"

"Just a bit of grandiose showmanship on my part, I suppose," she giggled, "I was given free reign to design the castle, so I turned her into quite the sentient thing. But alas animation and transfiguration can only go so far, I daresay a man of your intellect will soon identify all the patterns and sequences."

"Trick step," Harry pointed out as he deftly avoided a step and pulling Rowena away from it. He didn't miss the playful pout she gave. "Did Salazar irritate you that much such that you built in these pranks to toy with him?"

"I do not prank!" she protested, but broke into a grin, "but seeing Salazar curse every other day when he finds himself stuck in a trick step has brought me much enjoyment, especially after he sees fit to lambast me. I'm sure he takes it in good sport."

They arrived at the other end of the tower, having passed by the student dorms. He opened the door before allowing for her to enter, and she gave him a grateful smile before stepping in. "Here are your quarters, fully furnished. You have a fully furnished toilet, as well as a fireplace."

"Is it connected to your floo network?" Harry inquired. Rowena had a look of complete bafflement before she composed herself.

"H-how do you know about that?" she stuttered. "Who told you? Was it Godric, or Salazar? No, it was Helga wasn't it?"

His chuckle seemed to infuriate her more, and for fear of hurting their relationship he quickly explained, "None have betrayed your confidence. I merely observed there was a tub of powder by the fireplace and reasoned that you created a new method of transportation. Without the luxury of apparition I imagine a genius like you would think of some new method of transport."

She flushed at the praise but was not swayed from her questioning. "A large leap in logic certainly, but I will overlook that. However, the name is not easily guessed, and you seem to have reasoned enough into how it works, impossible without having been informed prior. The fact that only my room, this room and the great hall are connected by the contraption means that there is no way you could have known about it...you've only been in my room twice, and I daresay I did not use the floo either time."

"If it is any comfort I was not sure of the floo until you confirmed it," he lied, deciding that he shouldn't have teased her with that information. He doubted that she would not notice his attempt at evasion, but decided to give it a chance.

"How very...astute of you," she commented, but let the matter drop. "Regardless, if you wish to use it merely toss a handful of powder and either call out Ravenclaw's quarters or the great hall. This room is known as Potter's quarters."

"Have you figured out a way to block the floo yet?" At her questioning glance he explained, "Sometimes you might want privacy, or if in the unlikely instance an enemy managed to access one floo point, then you would want a way to block off your floo lest they use it."

"I...never thought about it that way, merlin you make we want to disconnect my quarters from the floo network now," she flustered. Clasping her forehead she muttered, "I feel like such an idiot now, not having thought of such simple consequences."

"Nonsense, I only speak from experience, having seen similar inventions. Yours however is by far the best, and you certainly should not give up on it because it has the potential to be abused. WIth school starting soon though, I think it would be wise if you removed the floopoint from the great hall, as well as the floo powder, lest any students accidentally hurt themselves with it. But by all means keep the connection between our rooms, we could use it for experimentation and to see each other."

"Hmm, imaging the things we could do, being able to secretly go to each other's rooms with no one else being the wiser," Rowena said with a twinkle in her eyes. Harry was stunned for a moment, never having heard Rowena flirt with him before.

Deciding to see if she would go further, he played along. "Hmm, I could certainly think of many things we could try together. Perhaps some late night cuddles when everyone else is asleep?"

She laughed, her eyes full of mirth. "Quite the flirt, I see. Answer my question correctly, and I shall reward you. What say you to this game?"

"Ask away," Harry challenged, "and let a wager be a kiss on the lips." Perhaps he was laying it thick but at this point he was desperate to see if they had a chance of working, and she seemed more than happy to play along.

"Very well, answer me this. What is my greatest desire?"

"You wound me, asking such a challenging question. One might think that you do not want me to kiss you," he said melodramatically while clutching his chest. She giggled and he began musing, "Perhaps knowledge, such as the fact that you shall let me win regardless of my answer," he purred, savouring the blush that crept up her cheek as she tried and failed to look indignant, "But no, that would be too obvious for the beautiful raven. Perhaps students to spread her intellect to, followers to admire and suitors to woo? No, you are not susceptible to such fickle desires of the ego."

Emerald eyes locked on hazelnut as he leaned forward, softly breathing on her, lips just centimeters away as he proposed, "You seek someone as an equal, someone who loves you for the intellectual you are, a partner to study and learn with, someone to share responsibilities with, someone who understands you. Not drawn only by your beauty, not intimidated by your intellect, no, what you desire most is an equal."

"Correct," she said no louder than a whisper before closing the gap between them and cupping one hand on his cheek while the other snaked to his back. He reciprocated, leaning in while allowing both of his hands to wrap her around protectively and draw her even closer to himself. Their lips met softly, and both moaned before pressing harder against each other.

They kept at their gentle kisses, teasing each other as their kiss deepened. Their chests pressed tightly against each other as their tongues began prodding each other in a dance.

It was several minutes of ragged breaths and wandering hands before they pulled apart, chests still pressed against each other and hands still firmly wrapped around each other's backs as their eyes locked, each trying to detect the faintest hint of regret or hesitation in the other's. They simply stood there in the middle of the room for several minutes before Harry recovered the power of speech. "Wow."

Both blushed furiously as they unwound their hands from each other, each shyly biting on their lips as they stood there awkwardly, both inwardly feeling an explosion of happiness, excitement and contentedness. "Wow indeed," she replied softly, and both chuckled.

"Row? Will you give this a chance? Will you give us a chance?" Harry asked tentatively. His heart clenched at the fear of rejection, but he posed the question nonetheless, his need to know her answer triumphing over the fear of her answer.

"Yes, Harry."


	9. Chapter 9

"Welcome back, just in time for dinner. Edgar's cooking is still hot, sit down quickly!" Rowena chided. The three founders, having just arrived, quickly took their seats and eating, shovelling food into their mouths. Harry admitted surprise at Helga's eating speed, which could have easily rivalled that of Ron Weasley on most days. "The students arrive tomorrow, and all of you see fit to arrive back only tonight, have any of you worked on your lesson plans?"

To her credit, Helga looked slightly ashamed. Godric had a look of indignation while Salazar still had his air of superiority. When none answered and silence lingered, Harry stepped in, asking, "So Godric, how was the duel you and Salazar decided to enter? Was the competition any good?"

He could tell Rowena's disappointment in the other founders and decided to talk to her later, reaching with his hand under the table and giving hers a gentle, comforting squeeze. She shot him a grateful smile before eating with some spirit regained, listening attentively. "Anyways, so Salazar and I faced each other for the fifth round-"

"-and this buffoon saw fit to beat me before losing to a joke of a duellist in the finals-"

"-he was highly talented and extremely unpredictable-"

"-he was a fool whose moves made no sense and you underestimated him, giving him a free shot to knock you out while you were there strutting about like a ballerina-"

"-yes, yes, but I still beat you didn't I?" Godric said cheerfully. Salazar had a sneer as Harry and Rowena's eyes met before both rolled their eyes at the same time. They paused for a moment, merely staring at each other in surprise before smiles tugged at both their lips, their eyes twinkling in mirth as they continued to steal glances at each other for the rest of the meal while Godric continued recounting the tale of how he was beaten by luck, Salazar interjecting every so often with a scrutinizing quip, and Helga talking about her adventure in the countryside and collecting different plants.

Harry quickly finished his meal and excused himself, shooting an exasperated glance. She picked up her goblet hurriedly and Harry knew that she was hiding a smirk as he walked up to Ravenclaw tower, as he decided to name it. Of course Rowena wasn't arrogant enough to have named the part of the castle after herself yet, but Harry couldn't shake the force of habit, and she was the only resident until very recently, so he thought he should be forgiven.

"Harry, you should have waited for me!" He stopped and turned around with a cocky grin on his face to see Rowena rushing to catch up while clutching her dress with her hands.

"Should I have now, I feared that if I stayed you would be too kind hearted to leave them to their bickering. I merely thought that our evening would be more enjoyable if it were between us, don't you agree, my lady?"

"Of course...well I suppose we should go over our charms lessons together after all," she said with a flirtatious wink. He offered her his hand and she quickly interlaced hers with his, setting off at a leisurely pace for their quarters.

"In seriousness, how do you want to work on the charms lesson? I would think that a genius as yourself would have some way to dazzle the students," Harry mused. Rowena hummed softly as she leaned in closer to Harry.

"I'm honestly not sure, tell me, what will you cover in your defence classes?" she asked.

"Wand safety and maintenance." She scoffed in disbelief, but Harry did not budge. "Of course, otherwise who else will teach them the importance of polishing their wand regularly. It is their tool, their weapon, surely they can't just expect it to last without any upkeep for their entire life."

"Ollivander would be proud," she quipped, and both chuckled in mirth.

"Indeed he would. I think he will also be happy that we're encouraging children to learn more about magic. It's been years of stagnation of magicals in Britain, I really think that Hogwarts has the potential to turn this around." And he knew with near certainty that it would. The generation after Hogwarts had boomed, and though the founders did not live to see their work the student population had increased several times over in the matter of years. The founding of Hogwarts had signalled a Renaissance for magic that lasted well into the fourteen hundreds, four hundred years past the initial founding of Hogwarts. A part of Harry was bristling with nervousness and excitement at prospect of becoming part of this history. And then there was his relationship with Rowena, which had progressed beyond his wildest dreams. He had initially come hoping to befriend her only as a fellow intellectual, focusing on Salazar. Instead, he now found himself hopelessly in love with her, and if his senses did not betray him her with him.

"You digress Harry. You shall learn that such verbal plays do not work with me. Regardless, I have drawn up lesson plans, starting off with lumos, then nox, then the levitating charm. We'll work a bit on etymology and common wand movements as well. What are you teaching for defence?" she asked, opening the door to her quarters and ushering him into a seat.

"Once we're done with wand maintenance and safety I'll move on to dealing with some dark creatures as well as common enemies. Hags, imps, and the-watch out!"

Harry began firing off stunners with his fingers as a swarm of pixies emerged from behind her wardrobe. Rowena was shocked into standing still as he was slowly pushed back by the sheer number of pixies.

He fired off stunners rapidly, yet they seemed to keep on coming ignoring the twelve, fourteen pixies already immobilized on the floor.

"Aw, aren't you a sweet little-"

Harry's eyes widened as he turned to check back on Rowena, who was leaning down and looking at a pixie dancing mischievously. He ignored the few scratches they landed on his cheek and sent a blasting spell at them as he yelled, "Row no!"

But it was too late, the pixie had jumped up and bit her on the nose. "Argh!" she yelped before trying to yank it off. She began stumbling blindly and knocking into furniture as the pixie stubbornly continued to hold its bite.

Cursing under his breath, he sent two successive blasting spells at the pixies, sufficiently cowing them before he rushed over to Rowena, and wrapping his hands around her waist apparated with a pop back to his towers, after spending much of his energy punching through the wards of Hogwarts.

"Immobulus," he cast, and the pixie stopped struggling and gnawing on her nose, slumping. Harry quickly pulled off its body and locked it in an empty box, before rushing to his trunk and pulling out a salve.

"Crushed actinolite, it'll stop the toxins from spreading, I hope," Harry commented before she could ask the question. He began gently rubbing the powder onto her nose, and the swelling began to slow before stopping and shrinking.

"Pixies, quite the nasty creatures. A bite won't hurt too bad but three or four and there'll be enough poison to kill." Seeing her pale, he comforted, "You'll be fine. You might suffer a bit of a headache from the toxins being removed, but a good night's rest is all you need.

He lifted her body bridal style and lay her on the bed as she gave him a weak smile, rubbing her nose gently and squeezing it. "It tickles."

"That's good, it means the toxin has only barely gotten through into your blood. This'll be much easier for you," Harry assured.

"But this is your bed," she muttered half heartedly, her eyes already fluttering as the actinolite begun its effects. Harry merely chuckled as he ran a finger along her cheek, enjoying watching her try to lean her head in to his finger.

"Sleep well, my raven," he soothed, gently pulling the duvet over her before heading unto his study and grabbing a salve to rub on his cuts. He looked himself in the mirror, seeing several gashes across his cheek where he had been clawed. He counted himself lucky that he had not been bitten yet.

Seeing the effects of the salve begin to show, he shrunk the tin down and put it in his pocket, wandering back into the bedroom and glancing over at the sleeping form of Rowena, her chest rising up and down softly as she slept on peacefully. She was muttering something but Harry couldn't find it in him to listen in, instead getting the box he had locked the pixie in and apparating back to Ravenclaw tower.

Inside, around twenty or so pixies were trashing the room. The chairs had their legs ripped off, the bed had been sliced in half, the pillow's feathers had been pulled out and thrown about in the air like confetti and the wardrobe's doors were hanging broken.

"Immobulus," Harry cast, using his druid training to turn the spell into an area effect. It was extremely taxing for him to perform such a feat wandlessly and silently, but he managed, knocking out all the pixies in an instant. He opened his box and levitated all of the pixies into the box, deciding that the first defence against dark creatures lesson would be on pixies, and shut the lid before sealing it magically.

He wandered around the room, casting repairing charms as he went about. Scratches and claw marks were removed as legs were reattached and items returned to their places. He could do little about the spilt potions other than to cast vanishing charm on them and return their flasks to their original place. He thanked the deities that the bookcase in the adjacent room had remained unharmed, he was certain Rowena would have a heart attack if any of her prized manuscripts were damaged.

He saw the Egyptian tome he gifted her lying open on her desk, and couldn't help but wander over an have a look. There were several pieces of paper surrounding the tome where neat scribbles of notes pointed to the various writings of the tome. Apparently the tome was on the spells of an Egyptian pharaoh trying to figure a way to make crops grow better, and he briefly wondered whether the gift was more suited to Helga.

What caught his eye however were the doodles of hearts that dotted the pages, as well as his name written elegantly in cursive over and over again. He flipped through several stacks of her notes arranged into neat piles at the top of her desk, and found that the hearts were prominently features through her notes.

He cast several scourgifys on her desk to remove some of the accumulated dust before returning back to the main room. Deciding not to take any chances, he cast several detection spells around, finding nothing except a few spiders which he promptly removed from the room.

The room had been restored into its neat and tidy form, and Harry daresay Rowena might well have forgotten that the pixies had attacked were it not for the slight bruise that would remain on her nose for the coming week.

He closed the door to her room and cast a locking charm before heading to his own quarters, carefully casting detection spells to see if there were any unwelcome elements. Apart from a lone toad that croaked sadly at him which he levitated gently down to the great lake, there were no other offenders present.

"Ravenclaw's quarters," he said while tossing a handful of floo powder into the fire. It burst an emerald green and he stepped through it, landing gracefully in her quarters as he stepped out of the fireplace.

He cast several detection charms on the floo and checked if it was similar to his own time. Back in the future the ministry's department of floo travel was dedicated to setting up and maintaining the complicated floo network of several thousand points, and he had studied it meticulously, using it to send many unsuspecting death eater conspirators to their deaths and trapping them who knows where and allowing to dehydrate or starve to death. He had laughed when Voldemort lost one of his inner circle to his floo sabotage, and had watched from the distance as he had his underlings work relentlessly, trying to find a problem that did mot exist.

Rowena's floo was slightly different from the modern one in that the modern one used a hub and spoke model, as the muggles called it. Without knowing it, all floo travel went past the ministry in between theur destinations, which made him surprised that floo tracking was still rare during the war. Ravenclaw's model connected individual floos to each other, and while it was fine for a small number of floo points, as the number of connected fireplace linking each to every other would take increasing magical power and be exponentially more time consuming, not to mention harder to maintain.

He wondered if Rowena had thought of this problem yet, but seeing as there was no ministry of magic to coordinate such things, he could hardly fault her if she had not. He would ask her about connecting the floo to his tower.

Giving her room one last look, he apparated straight back to his tower, careful not to wake Rowena as he went to one of the guest bedrooms and tucked himself in, closing his eyes and dreaming about a certain lady sleeping in his bed.


	10. Chapter 10

"Wave up, Row!"

"Wha-oh it's you Harry," Rowena said sleepily, her eyes still looking distantly as she rolled out of the bed. Harry thought she looked cute like this.

"Yes, good morning my dear. In case you have forgotten, the students arrive today after breakfast, and we should probably meet with the others as well," Harry said cheerfully. Rowena mumbled something under her breath before stumbling towards the bathroom and hastily closing the door. Surprised, Harry just stood there for a moment before chuckling to himself. He sat on his bedside and waited patiently for Rowena, hearing her turn on the faucet for the bath as the sound of water running and splashing caused his eyes to twinkle in mirth.

He pulled out a runes text he had been reading from the modern era. Absorbing the dark lord's memories had surprisingly sparked an interested in armithacy and runes for him, and i. his free time he had devoted himself to tbe study, whenever he wasn't practicing or killing Voldemort's followers.

To his surprise, though he would never dare to admit this to a woman, she was finished in a few minutes, and came out with her hair trailing down her chest in curls and looking refreshed. "How are we getting back to Hogwarts?"

"Apparition of course. Be glad you haven't had breakfast yet, as it takes some time to get used to. I think the pain you were in yesterday overwhelmed any discomfort you felt when I side-apparated you, so be forewarned." She held his hand and grimaced as he apparated them through the wards and into Hogwarts.

"Should I ask how you were able to bypass the wards?" she asked wryly, looking like she wanted to vomit. He clapped her on the back sympathetically, remembering the first time he apparated and feeling like he was being squeezed through a tube.

"Would you believe me if I said hours and hours of practice?"

"No."

"Then I shall tell you it was hours and hours of practice." He laughed when she gave a growl, but the effect was ruined when her stomach complained with a loud gurgle. She blushed as he laughed heartily, leading her into the great hall where Edgar had already delivered their food.

"Ah Harry, you're back! What a shame you and Rowena didn't stay for the meal, Helga and Salazar decided to have a drinking contest, and the lady downed six shots of firewhisky to Sally's four. You should have seen the look on his face!"

"Do not call me by that pretentious name, and I will have you know I am not an alcoholic." They all turned to see a grumbling Salazar stalk into the room with his usual superior air, followed by a smirking Helga.

"Hmm, someone's grumpy, isn't that right, Sally-boy," Helga quipped. Harry wondered how much alcohol was still coursing through her veins, or whether history had been wrong in its depiction of the founder.

Salazar gave a sneer but sat down and began mushing his mashed potatoes. Helga's eyes twinkled in mirth and Godric was laughed heartily at the green and silver robed man. "Anyways I can't wait for the students. I don't suppose any of you have bothered to draw up lesson plans since yesterday," Rowena muttered, her scottish ire evident. Harry's eyes twinkled in mirth as the other founders pointedly ignored her, and he gave her a sympathetic glance.

"Who will introduce the students?"

"Helga will of course. She's always been the warm and kind one among us. I'm no master of words, Sally here would probably scare off half the students and Rowena just doesn't have the charm," he blurted out. Harry shot him a glare when he saw Rowena's eyes narrow at his comment, and he reached out to her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze and getting her to look up. 'You're charming in my eyes,' he mouthed, and she seemed to get the message, flashing him a shy smile before returning to her food. Godric, oblivious to this, continued singing praises about Helga, embarrassing the woman while Salazar looked like he would do anything to silence his ramblings.

After she finished her breakfast she quickly excused herself to go outside and lead the students in. This seemed to snap Godric out of his tirade as he busied himself finishing a piece of ham. Salazar seemed to sigh in relief, and even Rowena began eating with more gusto. He himself quickly bit into a fork of ham before finishing up. "This cooking is really good, but are we going to have Edgar cook for all our meals everyday? It would increase our costs significantly, not to mention that his food is not always the healthiest."

"True, true," Rowena quickly agreed, "it is at best a temporary solution. Perhaps we should put the word out to hire a cook for Hogwarts. Afterall, we have a large kitchen just sitting idly with no one to man it."

"And where are you going to find a cook? Are you, in all your wisdom, going to whip up some bacon and eggs? Hmm? Or do you want and enslave a race, the arrogant elves maybe, hmm?" He glared at Salazar for insulting Rowena again, but his remark caused his mind to spin. The history of house elves had been censored and lost to history, and in the modern era very little was ever said about the existence of elves. Harry had yet to meet one, but he was certain that the proud and supposedly powerful race of elves did not willingly morph into servants with their magic dependant on their human masters.

"Stop insulting Rowena, she has done more for this school than you! You haven't even prepared for your lessons and the children are arriving in a matter of minutes. And don't you dare insult any students, because if you scare away even one there will be hell to pay," Harry scolded. Salazar sneered but did not retort while Rowena beamed at him. Godric looked amused at the outburst.

"They're here," Helga announced as the doors to the great hall flew open with a bang. She had a bright smile on her face and her bright yellow robes almost seemed to shimmer with excitement as a troop of children followed behind her. Almost all of them instinctively looked up at the roof, which was a shimmering sky blue, with birds fluttering around clouds lazily drifting. The youngest students were first, and those further back were progressively taller and more mature.

"Welcome students, to Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You have all met me, Helga Hufflepuff. At the head table are the rest of your teachers, Godric Gryffindor, who shall teach transfiguration, Salazar Slytherin, who shall teach potions, Rowena Ravenclaw, who shall teach armithacy, runes and charms, and Harry Potter, who shall teach magical defence and charms. In case you forgot I shall be teaching herbology."

"As you should have read in the pamphlet, you shall stay in the school for the coming ten months before you are released for the summer. There are seven years here at Hogwarts, and you shall be placed on them based by age. Meals will be provided here at the great hall, and are included in your school fees. Now I shall take you for a tour of the grounds before you are dismissed, follow me!"

The group of thirty or so students followed her closely as she left the great hall, and Harry learnt to appreciate the humble origins of Hogwarts. Being the first official institution of its kind, they had decided that classes would be held together, as splitting up the students such that some years only had three or four did not make sense.

Harry and the others watched the students fill out of the great hall. Godric and Salazar decided to follow them, leaving Harry and Rowena at the table. "It's quite different, talking about teaching, and then having students, isn't it?" Rowena mused.

"If they are eager to learn then they will be learning from the best. We can only hope that is enough."

"Indeed, thirty sickles for a year of schooling was already too expensive for many wizarding families, but hopefully in time people will see the value of a proper education. Afterall, we are providing them with much of the equipment they need, food and lodging. The costs quickly rack up for students, were it not for the twenty or so galleons we gained from your purchase of the lands the school would not be running," Rowena said.

"What was the plan if no one bought the land? To be frank if I didn't just happen to be passing by I very much doubt anyone else would buy the land. Very few people have use for an island in a lake, and even fewer would be willing to spend the gold." Harry observed.

"You are correct in every way, were it not for fate that brought you here we would not be running off, and would be buried under mounds of debt from the goblins. Thankfully you did and here we are." Harry wondered what happened in the original timeline, seeing as he was not present to purchase the land in his time. He figured that they must have scraped together some other means to fund the school, or perhaps someone else bought the land.

"What if we could reduce the cost of schooling?" Harry asked.

"We're already pinching every knut we can without sacrificing on schooling, Harry. If it were that easy then we would have done it."

"Why not have the village council levy a new tax on every magical. Then use the funds to cover the cost of the education. A shop tax could easily achieve the amount needed, and that way parents would have more incentive to send their children here, and dare I say it, have more children."

Rowena's eyes spaced out as he watched her mind begin running through the possibilities. He found it incredibly cute whenever she was in deep concentration like this, and couldn't help but stare at her.

"That…could work. I'll have John look into it, though the populus might not be happy, I think it could really work," she finally concluded. Harry poured deep into his mind for how it worked in his time. He recalled that the ministry paid most of the school fees, though students were still responsible for bringing their own equipment and had to top off the ministry sponsorship with additional money.

"And while you're at it, why not make it the students' responsibility to buy their equipment? That way if they damage it it's not on us, and the students can keep using the equipment after they graduate. We could also negotiate for a discount for the number of orders that would be placed, as well as some fees from the shops for bringing students there," Harry offered. It only then occurred to him that what was normal practice in the two thousands might well be an alien concept in nine hundred ninety, and he prayed that Rowena would not judge him too harshly for it.

"That...seems predatory, but brilliant! You could probably become an economy theorist at this rate, what you're proposing is ground breaking!" Rowena exclaimed. "Seeing as the other founders leave all the financing to me, do you think you could help me convince John."

"Of course, I would have it no other way. John seems kind and reasonable enough, so I forsee little issue. You being one of the founders has incredible sway as well, so I imagine he would readily agree to appease you."

"You forget that you are one of the founders as well, no? You joined us before the school officially opened its doors, and frankly speaking you've contributed just as much as the other founders, perhaps more so with your money," Rowena noted.

"What will you do in your free time. Only having one class means that you will be free for much of your time, will it not?" Harry asked.

"Indeed, I think I will read some of my books, or perhaps conduct some research. It has been my pastime for years, might as well continue."

"Perhaps we could work together? I very much enjoy the idea of us spending more time together, Row," Harry probed. He knew such a bold statement might backfire on him spectacularly, but with Rowena he knew he would gamble any day, it was worth it.

She blushed, perhaps at his use of the nickname private between them, or perhaps from the thoughts of what they could do together. "I would very much like that," she said softly, and Harry could very well have jumped up and down pumping his fist in celebration like quidditch fans at a stadium. However, he settled for walking over to her and cupping her cheek with his hand before pulling her into a deep kiss.

He felt her tense for a split second before she melted into his kiss and returned it with equal fervor. She moaned in satisfaction as he leaned in even closer, pressing their faces together. He had to tilt his head awkwardly as she was still sitting down, but luckily she seemed to notice his plight as she stood up, never breaking their kiss.

After a full minute, and perhaps the realization that the others might walk into them at anytime, they both pulled back, hair and clothes slightly dishevelled, blushing furiously and each with content smiles.

"Shall we continue this up in his room?" Rowena asked cheekily. Harry merely pulled her into another kiss and apparated them without another word.


	11. Chapter 11

"Good morning class, I hope you have all enjoyed your lessons yesterday. Welcome to magical defence, where we will be covering how to defend yourself against some dark creatures and against some spells. But before we get to that, I don't believe that any of the other professors have covered it yet, so it will fall to me to teach you about wand maintenance.

There was a collective groan from the class and Harry chuckled in mirth. "I know it sounds boring, and truthfully it is, but it is important nonetheless. A wand is your weapon as well as your tool. You can transfigure with it, duel with it, kill with it." He paused for emphasis, and noted that a few students paled. He had the undivided attention of all his class so he continued.

"But just as a wand is only as good as a wizard, a wizard is only as good as his wand. The wand is a conduit of your magic, it helps focus your power into spells by honing into your magic and channeling it, concentrating it. You will find that most advanced magic you perform will require a wand. I think that we all understand the importance of your wand?"

The class mostly nodded but Harry could see he was beginning to lose their interest so he transfigured a stone statue, allowing the class several seconds to look at it before he cast a severing spell, intentionally performing it silently for fear that the students would attempt to replicate it. The statue was cut cleanly in half, and a few students held their breath.

"A wand is affected by many factors, for it is made from a living thing-wood. It is almost sentient, you could say it is alive, having a mind of its own. Thus you must treat it with care and respect. How many of you have a wand holster?"

No one raised their hand, just as Harry expected. However, this did not deter him from reprimanding them, "You can't just store your wand in your back pocket or something. You'll sit on it and break it, or worse trigger a magical discharge and blow your buttocks off!"

A few in the class nervously laughed, but the rest were deadly silent. "For now, put your wand in your sleeve. It will have to do until you can acquire holsters. Now onto cleaning, your wand is like a pipe. If there are foreign artifacts such as dust, grime, dirt or merlin knows what else, it will weaken the flow of magic you can channel. That is why you must polish your wand at least once a month, if not more frequently. A piece of cloth will do, you can soak the cloth in water for greater effect, but do not dip your wand into water. It might cause the core and wood to unbind and that often results in an explosion. Got it?"

The class nodded, all scribbling notes frantically with their parchment and quill. Harry considered whether telling them they didn't need to make notes, but decided against it. It was important to impart on them the basics of wand maintenance, and if they were willing to copy it down that was better for everyone.

"Your cannot use your wand to cast a cleaning spell on your wand, so you will clean it by hand. Do not try and use someone else's wand to cast on your own. First of all, wands are almost sentient, they react badly against anyone other than their owner. When you own a wand, you form a bond with it that others don't have. If you are lucky, then the bond signature you have might have a resonance similar enough to the wand owner, and you will cast slightly weaker. If you are unlucky, your spell could backfire, or nothing might happen at all. Also, just so you are aware, some wizards have built in defences into their wands, poisoned ridges, spikes, a burning defence, it has all been done before, so do not try to use someone else's wand unless it is an emergency. Understood?"

The entire class nodded without hesitation, as though their feared it would incur some sort of wrath if they did.

"Moving on, do not point your wand at something you do not intend to cast at. Nor should you ever use your wand for anything other than casting magic, do not use it as a club, stick it up your nose, or try and use it as a staff. You will damage your wand and they are expensive to replace, not to mention you are disrespecting the work of the wand maker as well as magic. Am I understood?"

The entire class nodded, and Harry clapped his hand once. "Excellent, now we can move on to fun things. Today, we will learn about pixies. Specifically, we will be dealing with corn headed pixies. While usually not dangerous, they can become extremely violent when aggravated, and their bites contain toxins. One bite will cause a bit of swelling for a week, and might give you a bit of a headache. Two to three might knock you out, in rare cases more serious if there is an allergic reaction. However, any more than four bites and you have a risk of death unless it is treated. So in summation, pixies can be dangerous, especially in swarms."

He gave them several moments to catch up writing their notes before continuing lecturing, "The spell I will teach you today is the immobilizing spell, with the incantation immobulus. This will cause the target's joints to lock so they cannot move. It can be used against humans but the spell is so weak and easily countered that it would hardly be effective in a duel. The wand movement is a flick up, down slightly, up again, down, then a swish to the left. Watch me."

He demonstrated the wand movement several times, making sure that the entire class had seen it at least once before instructing, "Alright, I want you to practice the wand movement twenty times before we move on to casting it. Begin."

He walked around classroom, correcting small mistakes from the students and offering them pointers as well as just getting to know them. "Alright, everyone done? We will now start with the incantation. Place your wands on the desk and do not touch them. Is that everyone, good, repeat after me. Ih-moh-byoo-luhs. Again, Ih-moh-byoo-luhs."

They repeated the incantation several times before Harry was satisfied, and he pulled out a box in his pocket and enlarged it. He took off the lid and pulled one frozen pixie out and set it on the table.

"This is a pixie, notice how its two front teeth are quite large? The poison is injected from there. Apart from that, they can also scratch you with their hands and feet, so distance is your friend, maintain it why dealing with them. You, come up here," he said, pointing to a brown haired boy. Nervously, he stepped to the front,

"I am going to revive the pixie, and I want you to cast the charm. We shall practice before you do so, cast it towards the blackboard for me please."

"Immobulus," he said, swishing his wand in the correct movement, but nothing happened. He frowned and looked to Harry, who merely gestured for him to try again. This time, a weak jet of blue light shot out and hit the blackboard.

"Excellent work," he praised, clapping and gesturing for the rest of the class to follow suit. The boy beamed before Harry stopped the applause and gestured for him to stand in front of the teacher's desk, where the pixie was set.

"Alright, I am going to revive the pixie and I want you to cast it on three. One, two, three!" Harry cast the reviving spell and the jet of light hit the pixie, freeing it. However, it's celebration of freedom was short lived as the boy quickly fired off a blue spell, freezing it again.

"Excellent work, next!" He spent the rest of the class having the students line up and cast the spell on the pixie one by one. Most of the class were ecstatic to cast it on a living thing, and those who had finished their turn were talking animatedly about it.

Once everyone finished, Harry cast a tempus and saw there was five minutes left. His eyes twinkling, he announced, "Right, I have enough antidote for everyone, so we're going to have a bit of fun. I'm going to release all the pixies in here and you will all try and immobilize them, alright?" His druid training kicked in and he cast the reviving spell with his hands such that it had an area effect, and immediately fifty angry pixies began flying out and trying to attack him. However, he had cast a protego, and after futilely trying to break through for several seconds the pixies begun harassing the students, who quickly recovered from their surprise and begun firing wildly at the pixies.

Most of the spells were widely off their mark and hit the wall harmlessly. A few sizzled against his shield as well. But with thirty students casting as fast as they could and only fifty pixies it was quickly over.

"Stop firing! Good work everyone, has anyone been bit?" Everyone looked around, checking the students next to them, but no one was bitten. Extremely pleased, Harry congratulated, "You've all had your first taste of magical defence. You have until next lesson to write three feet of parchment on effective tactics to use against pixies, feel free to use the library to help in this endeavour. We will be discussing the properties of pixies and methods of dealing with them next lesson. But now I make it time for you to go to armithacy, so off you trot."

The class quickly filed out of the room, a few stopping to thank him for the interesting lesson. Harry chuckled to himself when the last student had exited, looking immensely forward to teaching them for the rest of the year. After pixies, it would be hags, then imps, then gnolls, and then a dozen more different harmful creatures.


	12. Chapter 12

"Salazar, can you stop trying to belittle the muggleborn students? Telling them they are worse than pureblood will only cause resentment," Godric moaned. Slytherin had infernos blazing in his eyes as he fingered his wand.

"I've had it with your complaints about my teaching. I have told you that I shall teach as I see fit, and that involves telling the muggleborns that they will forever be inferior and subservient to the purebloods. Power is passed down by lineage, and they are simply the weakest, and often the most dim witted. I will take charge for those with enough ambition to listen to me! House Slytherin shall rise and crush its opposition!"

"Very well, I shall take the brave," Godric said heatedly. "Only the most noble and pure hearted shall be in my house. At least then some children will be safe from your indoctrination." Harry scoffed inwardly, he himself had seen many deplorable Gryffindors act like children-with no finesse or subtlety, though having met their founder he supposed they could not be blamed. It seemed that history was following through on its course, and with the founders of the two houses themselves having a rivalry Harry did not find it surprising their followers had continued the feud for generations to come.

"In that case I shall take the witty and the wise, someone ought to protect and appreciate the talents of the intellectuals," Rowena declared. Harry couldn't smile slightly at the declaration, she had finally begun to assert her place as one of the founders.

"I shall take the hard working and the loyal," Helga said dreamily, as if Salazar had not just gone on a tirade about murdering all magical children not born to magical parents. Harry sighed inwardly, for he knew Hufflepuffs, whether rightfully or not, would become the laughing stock of the wizarding world. They were treated as second class Gryffindors by most others, at least Ravenclaw had maintained some of their dignity by remaining neutral.

"What of you Harry, shall you have your own house, you are as much an original founder as the rest of us," Godric said gesturing to Harry. Salazar seemed agreeable to the idea as well, though Harry wondered what he could possibly take, seeing as Helga had scooped up the leftovers of the other founders. Perhaps the leaders, people with visions for a fuller picture. Slytherins craved power, Ravenclaws studied it, Hufflepuffs shared their power and Gryffindors used it. A house for those who could control it would be fitting, a blend of the best of the four houses. But just as quickly as the thought entered his mind he dismissed it. Children would be children, and he wanted no part in their segregation.

Outwardly, Harry merely smiled as he said, "I shall take no part in this house system. I can only foresee division and conflict down this path, and I shall act as an impartial force that all can turn to." It had been one year, and the arguments had continued, but Harry knew it would come to a head, and it seemed the time was now. "How shall students be sorted anyways?"

"I have a hat, we can each imbieu a part of our spirit into it, let it judge each student by their minds and sort them. Harry, if we imbiew your spirit as well then it will be impartial!" Godric announced. Even if Salazar was skeptical, the founders all agreed on using the hat, which Godric pulled out of his hat with a smile. It was a large brown hat not unlike those of wizards and witches in storybooks and legends. It's surface was lined with brown creases, and Harry could imagine the mouth and eyes that would be animated onto it, remembering fondly when he had a very interesting discussion with the hat, and being forever grateful that it was unable to spill his secrets.

Godric cast a strange charm, and five beams escaped from the hat, hitting each of them before it glowed a different colour. Rowena's beam was blue, while Godric's was red. Helga admired her yellow beam while Salazar seemed happy with his green. Harry observed his own beam, which was a deep and rich purple. He felt his mind tingling, a gentle probing force against his occlumency shields. Tentatively, he lowered them, and felt a presence reach in, learning, mimicking him.

It took several seconds before the feeling faded away, and when he opened his eyes the other founders were all staring at him. The purple beam still connected the hat and him strong as ever, though now the hat had eyes and a mouth.

"Harry Potter, much darkness and much light, you are perhaps the best of the four founders. You seek power, but do no allow it to consume you, you wield power, but do not become complacent, you learn about power, but do not fear or prejudice it, you share power to those who are worthy, but you do not empower the evil. What a shame you decided not to have your own house, it would truly make a force of history."

"Thank you, you dignify me. However as I said, I shall act as an impartial force for all students to seek. Besides, one could argue the scales are balanced right now. Hufflepuffs lean more to Gryffindor while Ravenclaws to Slytherin."

The hat chuckled, "You already put Gryffindor and Slytherin on pedestals, but I have seen your mind, and I cannot fault you."

"You can read my mind without being put on?" Harry queried. The hat chuckled mischievously.

"Only because you allowed me to, believe me if you used even a fraction of your occlumency I would not be able to. How else am I supposed to make sure the houses are evenly split if I haven't seen all the students before I start sorting them? Do you really think that there are just coincidentally around the same number for each house every year, I may a magical hat but even I have limits you know?"

"Indeed," Harry said with mirth. "Perhaps we should save our conversation for another time, for the other founders are growing suspicious. Rowena in particular is looking at us hungrily, I could imagine her carving you open trying to figure out how you work."

"You jest at your mate's expense! How unbecoming of you!" the hat jokingly chided. "But indeed, I fear for my safety if we do not end this conversation. I look forward to our next."

Harry put back his occlumency shields in place and the purple beam faded. "Well well well, we're all done and done, would you all not agree that it has been fun, the things that I gleam from you all I would rather not know, be glad that secrets are kept and your visions I cannot show."

"Alright, I think that is enough, seeing as it is already near Sunday morning we might well wait for the students to wake and sort them," Godric said with a yawn before taking a sip out of a mug of tea.

The other founders followed suit, sipping on the tea in companionable silence besides a roaring flame. "Should we divide up the students, after the new tax and sponsorships we now have over a hundred students, classrooms have become cramped," Helga mused.

"Great idea my dear!" Godric shouted and Helga blushed as Salazar snorted. Harry and Rowena merely exchanged amused looks as the courageous founder continued, "We should split up lessons so that each house has one lesson at a time."

But with the addition of students, wouldn't it make sense to split them by year. Afterall, having different abilities would be a godsend for lessons," Rowena interjected. Salazar nodded in agreement, and the other two founders reluctantly agreed.

"I propose that we name each house after ourselves, seeing as we will be responsible for the charges. Besides, we are building a legacy," Salazar announced slightly arrogantly. To Harry's surprise, the others nodded their agreement, settling on using their last names.

"But back to the subject at hand, I propose that my students join with Rowena's and your two student groups join together for classes," Helga proposed. Godric looked as though he had been betrayed, while Salazar snorted even louder this time.

"Please tell me you're joking, my students would wilt away from the idiotic nature of Godric's followers. I insist that my students are paired with Ravenclaw, at least then Slytherin wouldn't not suffer from a deficit in intelligence."

"My students aren't groceries for you to pick and choose Salazar," Rowena chided, "my Ravenclaws will be working with the Hufflepuffs. I might not agree with how you run Slytherin, but don't you dare try and run my house!" By the end of her tirade Rowena was standing up staring down at Salazar. If the man was intimidated he did not show it, as he simply scoffed.

"As if anyone cares what you think. Godric, surely you cannot agree to this foolishness!"

"You will not insult the woman who controls your precious potions budget!" Harry said angrily before Godric could respond. "Rowena organizes all the funding at Hogwarts, so the least you could be is grateful." He felt slightly bad shouting at his mentor for over a decade, but Salazar was really different ot how the portrait taught him, and he had developed quite the soft spot for Rowena.

"Insolent brat, you are nothing compared to me! I can speak to snakes, can you boast of that feat? I have created a new branch of magic? Can you boast the same? Rowena is just a book reading antisocial, I hope you enjoyed the pixies, I hear they are quite friendly, would probably teach you a lesson in practical magic too."

Harry's fist balled angrily, and Rowena put a calming hand over him as she replied curtly, "Well unfortunately someone is petty enough to try and hinder others to prove that which does not exist. Boast and brag to reveal a hollow and empty husk."

"Why you-"

"Slytherin!" Harry said, eyes boring onto him. "You will apologize to Rowena, she has done far more for Hogwarts than you."

"Oh, forgive me if I don't bed her in appreciation," he said slyly. Rowena gasped and Salazar had the audacity to laugh, "So you did manage to get into the bookworm's dress, my congratulations. No wonder she was so supportive of you becoming a teacher. Also makes one wonder whether you really gave the gold for the land or just to buy her off."

"Salazar, what Rowena and I have between us is private," Harry hissed dangerously. Switching to parseltongue, he continued, "Besides, we wouldn't want to see what dark secrets you have, would we? You're hardly around a wife, and you have never introduced us, perhaps something go wrong? Malcom starts Hogwarts this year, though I'm sure you've been teaching him, do you really think you can protect him?"

His words were chosen carefully and its effects were twofold. One, he wanted to stave off Salazar from further antagonizing Rowena. Two, he hoped that Salazar might stave off his dark path. He had suddenly grown much more hostile since last Yule, and Harry hoped that the man had not gone down the dark path he seemed fated for. Salazar paled and hastily left the room, swishing his cape as he left without another word, Rowena following.

"Harry?" Rowena asked slightly timidly as she struggled to catch up, and his face softened.

"Just a private chat, Row, nothing for you to worry about. Come, join me in my quarters before breakfast, we might be able to finish decrypting the next section of the tome."

She seemed to brighten at the idea, and accepted his extended hand, leaning her head onto his shoulder as they left the staffroom and headed up Ravenclaw tower.

"I guess that you wanted to discuss something other than the tome Harry," Rowena mused as they began ascending the staircase.

"You know me too well, my love," Harry replied, reaching out and touching her cheek gently. He smiled when she blushed at the contact but didn't stop him, in fact leaning closer and planting a kiss on his lips before pulling back slightly, breathing softly and allowing each warm breath to tease him.

"Harry, you know you can tell me anything, ever since you've come into my life I've finally regained the will to continue on. There is nothing on this world that could make me any less thankful for what you have given me."

"But you might love me less for it," he countered sadly, holding a finger gently to her lips when she opened them to protest. "There are many things that I have not told you, some I am not sure if I can ever bring myself to, but I have little doubt we would not be the same."

"You insult my love for you with these statements Harry. Try me, please, I swear on my life that I will love you all the same. I don't care what you did in the war against the dark lord, if this is what it's about. All I care about is the Harry in front of me, so please, open up to me."

"You always know what to say to cheer me up, my raven," Harry cooed softly. She giggled as he pulled her closer and began leading her up the staircase. "I am merely thinking about Salazar, he has gotten more temperamental ever since last Christmas."

"He...has just hid it better in the past I suppose, he is truly a great man in his own right, but he has allowed himself to become corrupted by his views," she lamented sadly. This struck a chord with Harry, and he realized that he had been too late, that the horcrux was already made and that he could only hope that he would be there in time to stop it. "Your mind wanders again love, tell me what you think," she beseeched.

Harry sighed, rubbing his temples. It was still refreshing to know someone genuinely cared for him. He had been little more than a lost an empty soul when he had first arrived to his new time, and from her confiding he knew she had been little better than he had been as well. He was...sympathetic towards her, especially after remembering that countless history books would go on to romanticize her work at Hogwarts. In his hunt for the dark lord's horcruxes, he had also learnt of the Grey Lady, Rowena's daughter who betrayed her, and he could only imagine the suffering that Rowena had gone through in the original timeline.

But perhaps two lost souls could heal each other when they met, and as they entered his quarters he pulled her into a kiss while wandlessly closing and locking it, trying to convey how much she now meant to him. And somehow, he knew she understood as she moaned gently into him, snaking her hand around him. The only pulled away from each other several minutes, staring intently at each other.

"Better?" she asked cheekily, cocking her head.

"Better," he affirmed with a smile.

"The students will be waking up soon, we still need to get ready for the sorting," she said hesitantly, putting a finger between them when he leaned in again. He gave her a pout before pulling back, fixing his robes with a straightening charm before checking himself in the mirror.

"So who do you think will be in your house?" Harry asked curiously.

"I don't know, haven't thought about it." Harry raised an eyebrow, and after several seconds she admitted sheepishly, "Alright, maybe I did think about it for a bit...alright, I've made a list of everyone I think will be in my house, now stop looking at me like that!"

He ignored her, continuing to straighten out his robes while she cast a cleaning charm on herself. Accepting her hand as they made their way back down the staircase and towards the main hall, Harry mused, "So it begins."


	13. Chapter 13

"Help, Godric, please! There's trolls in north Hogsmeade!" All eyes in the great hall turned towards the lone figure that had barged into the great hall. It was a young boy wearing dirtied robes with a mop of black hair, no older than eight or nine. Immediately the great hall began filling with chatter as Godric stood up and rushed towards the doors of the great hall and the boy. "Take me there now, Salazar, Harry come join me!"

Harry leapt to his feet but was pulled back by Rowena's hand. Looking at her questioningly, he could see her looking torn, the conflict written in her eyes. It took several seconds before she seemingly made her mind, planting a chaste kiss on his lips and whispering, "Come back to me."

"I will, I promise you," Harry replied before rushing off to join Godric. Salazar was several steps ahead of him, and the three began jogging behind the boy, who began recounting how there were three trolls with blue-greyish skin wielding clubs. The trolls were about ten meters tall, some of the largest ever recorded, and bashing into any humans and properties they could get their hands on.

As they headed further north from the town center, the distant screams became louder and louder, and they all sped up their pace to a run as they weaved through narrow dirt paths towards the source of the cries.

They finally came across a well in a small open square where three trolls were grunting as they clubbed away at the small buildings that surrounded the square. It seemed that most of the villagers had escaped the vicinity, though there were a few mutilated corpses dotting the square, evidently smashed by powerful blows from the trolls' clubs.

Godric and Salazar began firing a multitude of spells at the trolls, but it was in vain, with ice mountain trolls having some of the strongest skin, even if they were slower and dumber than the average troll. "Why aren't you firing anything," Salazar uttered between curses. Harry merely watched on as the trolls turned to their new targets, shrugging off the spells as they began lumbering towards the trio.

The largest of the three trolls, also the leader and the closest to them, let out a loud war cry, raising his club into the air and shaking his head. Harry immediately capitalized on this, raising his wand and sending an overcharged reducto straight towards the troll's mouth.

The troll was stationary during its war cry, and Harry's aim was true from decades of targeting death eaters. With a loud splat the trolls head exploded out back, and the body wobbled uneasily before collapsing to the ground with a thud.

Seemingly oblivious to this, the other two trolls also let out similar war cries, and Harry sent another two curses straight to their open mouths. They too were pulverized, their limp bodies toppling to the ground uselessly. Salazar looked at him with something between fear and newfound respect, while Godric was baffled at the sheer precision of his spellwork.

Behind them, the sound of hurried and panicked footsteps as well as the shouts of several men broke them out of their silence. "Where's the troll! We're here to kill it!" the leader of the small militia yelled, his wand drawn as he surveyed the area. Harry recognized the man as John Craighton, head of the town council. "Hold on, it's dead already, you three manage to take it down?"

"Yes, we were quite fortunate to be able to," Harry replied smoothly before either Godric or Salazar could speak. "We would welcome the help for disposing the bodies though, it smells and frankly there is little use for troll's meat."

John shook his head as the men burst out laughing at the joke, probably relieved they did not have to face three ice mountain trolls. John quickly shook the three men's hands before barking orders for the militia to cart off the bodies.

"Tell me Godric, Salazar, do you know how the war in the north is progressing? It seems extremely suspect that three trolls were able to break through the coalition defence, no?" Harry queried, interested to see the insights of the two founders.

"I've only heard from bar talk about the war, but apparently it is not going well. Apparently the King sent several thousand more troops to reinforce their contingent because they suffered such heavy losses, word is that apparently there are some necromancers that are summoning armies of inferni aside from the trolls, word is some dark elves have joined them and are fighting side by side as well."

"Bar talk, Godric, honestly if half of what you listed was true we would have been overrun and in the midst of a battlefield by now, surely the tales of those drunken idiots are exaggerated," Salazar sneered.

"Say what you will, but I just hope for our sakes that it's not true," Godric mused. The three returned to Hogwarts castle where Rowena and Helga were waiting anxiously for them. Rowena immediately rushed forward and hugged him with an iron grip while Helga began fussing over Godric. Salazar merely scoffed before walking back into the castle himself, though Harry saw a flicker of remorse in those cold green eyes before they quickly returned to the cold and calculating orbs of normal.

"You're alright Harry, I was so worried for you. If I didn't know you any better I would have stopped you from joining those two idiots from going out troll hunting," she chided. "At least you haven't gotten yourself injured."

"Of course not, my dear. We couldn't just sit back while a troll rampaged through Hogsmeade, could we now? Besides, you know me well enough to know that I can handle a troll or two. I'm a wizard afterall."

"It takes dozens of normal wizards to contain a troll, and usually not everyone in a troll hunting party comes out alive, let alone unscaved," she countered.

"But I'm not normal, am I Rowena," Harry retorted.

"That you aren't, my Harry," Rowena conceded as she wiped a speck of dirt off his face, "That you aren't. Now come back in, I've had all the students stay in the great hall instead of attending lessons. They'll be glad to hear that all three of you aren't injured." They both took a moment to watch Godric dramatically retell their attack on the trolls.

"Can I guess that you managed to take them down?" Rowena whispered as they walked back into the castle.

"How did you know?" Harry asked, genuinely intrigued.

"So you did, not too shabby, my hero," she teased with a giggle. "But having known those two, they are more alike than they think. They probably just tried to overpower the trolls with spells."

Harry was genuinely impressed at her deductions, confirming, "I just waited until they let out a war cry before shooting them through the mouth. You were right though, I thought Salazar was the striking serpent, how come he's just trying to bludger his opponents like Godric?"

"Salazar might be a powerful duellist, but he is by no means elegant. He's in for theatrics and showmanship, while I honestly have no idea how Godric is capable of teaching transfiguration," Rowena explained. "Most of Salazar's reputation is based on Godric's drunken ramblings at the tavern. He and Sal always injure themselves in their duels, and they don't do it in public so people use their imagination to fill in the blanks. I have every confidence you could handily beat them. Regardless, I doubt Godric or Salazar will be talking about anything other than their bravado, and Helga won't leave Godric's side. Where does that leave us?"

"I would say we should go to our charms class, but I have a feeling the students will be just as restless. We might as well cancel classes for the day and let those two distract the students," Harry reasoned.

Rowena nodded in agreement, "Too true, and that leaves us with quite the bit of free time, doesn't it." Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes as she breathed huskily down his neck. She had opened up much in the past year, and their relationship had progressed far, though they hadn't done much physical exploration by unspoken agreement.

"I would be aroused, my dear, were it not for the fact that I know you want to finish working on the tome," he jibed, enjoying her fake hurt look.

"Fine, see if I let you sleep with me tonight, hmph," she threatened half heartedly. Harry merely chuckled as be feigned horror.

"You couldn't possibly do that to me, my raven." At her giggles he pecked her before continuing, "But this does remind me, I want to train you a bit. This attack will be the first of many. It is a sign that the coalition is faltering, and I cannot imagine anything happening to you." Rowena was about to protest, but seeing the pleading in his eyes and having made educated guesses about his deceased family, she acquiesced with a nod. "Thank you, my love."

With that he got into a duelling pose, and gestured for Rowena to do the same. She complied half heartedly, letting out a yelp when he shot a stinging hex at her. "Pay attention! Now dodge!"

She was about to protest when he shot another stinging hex, hitting her cheek, followed by another one that his her torso, followed by another that grazed her left ear. Seeing that he meant business, she quickly cast a protego, only for her to be completely knocked back when he shot a powerful reducto at her. Without giving her a chance to speak, he lectured, "Shield as a last resort, it puts you on the defensive and means that the opponent will have free reign!"She wisely rolled to the side when he began firing a flurry of stinging hexes at her again, and banished a chair followed by a pillow and several books at him as she regained her footing, Contrary to popular belief, the most scholarly of the four founders was by no means unfit, and could hold her own in a duel.

"That's better, keep dodging, allow your magic to flow, to guide you. Heed your senses, surrender to your instincts," he mentored. She allowed his words to guide him, soon finding that she did not have to play close attention to dodge his spells. Her realist side admitted that he was hardly trying his hardest, sending spells slowly and not always with true aim, but her irrational side settled on celebrating the fact she was holding her own against a man who had defeated three trolls without a scratch.

What followed would make Rowena question whether Harry had a split personality, because he was one of the strictest taskmasters she had ever been put under the tutelage of. She had been subjected to a barrage of stinging hexes until she learned to dodge the spells, and he had trapped her into a conjured stone prison until she was able to cast a strong reducto. The kind Harry she knew would return everytime they had a break, when he would wipe away the sweat on her head, hand her a goblet of water and offer pointers. By the end of the day, she had been completely exhausted, admittedly not having used so much magic in a day for years, and her entire body was feeling sore. She felt slightly bad acting quite grumpily towards him in the later part of their training, but she swore everytime she was hit with a stinging hex his eyes would twinkle mischievously.

She turned to see him, his body pressed tightly onto hers and his hands wrapped possessively around her stomach. His black hair messier than usual his pair of emerald eyes shining brightly as they watched her. "Thinking of something Row?"

She smiled at his attentiveness, her heart beating slightly quicker as she basked in a feeling of warmth. "You know me too well Harry. Just thinking of how long the peace will last."


	14. Chapter 14

"Salazar! What is this I hear about you sponsoring your students attacking mine? Two of my Gryffindors are in the infirmary unconscious!"

Harry and Rowena looked up from their snuggling in the staff room to see that Godric had barged in, looking heatedly at a lounging Salazar. Immediately both drew their wands subtly, preparing to protect from the inevitable crossfire that would come. Godric seemed more furious than usual, and both expected a duel to break out soon.

"I taught my students how to put others in their place. If your foolish gryffindors can't learn when they are beaten then it is hardly my problem that they brought about their own injuries. Why don't you go and teach your own a few spells before going out to look for trouble?"

"Y-you've gone to far this time Salazar, you're not fit to teach! Vacate the premises!"

"Make me," Slytherin drawled, climbing off the sofa as cracking his knuckles. Godric pulled out his sword and Slytherin yawned as he flicked his wand, sending several cutting curses at Godric. The headstrong founder batted the curses away without a thought as he lunged with a primal growl. Harry hastily raised a shield, and the stray curse fizzled out harmlessly in from of Rowena. The sound of steel on steel rang out across the room as the blades met in a cross, both duellers trying to overpower the other.

Slytherin changed first, flicking his blade and angling it at forty five degrees and allowing the force Godric built up to bring him into a clumsy swing. Salazar took this opportunity to jab at Godric, drawing blood from a glancing blow on the man's left.

"This is going to get ugly," Rowena muttered, and Harry couldn't help but agree.

"That will cost you, Slytherin!" Godric bit out as he swing wildly again. But Slytherin wasn't known as the striking serpent for naught, as he pranced backwards gracefully before jabbing his sword at Godric's hand, evidently striking true as the founder cursed.

"Not up to scratch, are you Gryffindor. I suppose it might as well be my blade that ends your legacy." Enraged, Godric lunged at Salazar, catching him off guard. It was only a hastily raised blade that stopped Godric from cleaving Salazar in half, and immediately the tone of the battle was set as Salazar kicked Godric in the chest before twirling his blade, bringing it round for a slice. Godric continued swinging angrily, and Salazar was forced on the defensive as he strategically gave ground, though made his way around the room in a circular shape so he was never cornered. Godric, seemingly too enraged to care, continued relentlessly swinging his blade with full power, forcing Salazar to defend with most of his concentration and abandon most of the opportunities he had to counterattack.

Suddenly, Salazar ducked underneath a particularly wild swing, before disarming Godric by angling his blade with deadly precision. Godric's right hand was sliced clean off, and the founder let out a cry, stumbling back clutching the stump and falling to his knees.

"So ends the tragedy of Lord Gryffindor," Salazar sneered mockingly as he twirled his blade, running it against a defenceless Godric's cheek and pressing it lightly and leaving a small cut as a line of red begun to bleed out. "A man too blinded by pride for his own good."

"And you talk too damn long, Godric spat out before lunging at Salazar, using his remaining hand and drawing a dagger, plunging it straight into Salazar's chest. The striking serpent was not prepared for his downed opponent to attack, and in a cruel twist of irony he was caught off guard by the sneaky attack, only managing to take a step back before the blade was plunged into his chest. The founder coughed out a trail of blood which smeared on Godric's face, but with a cruel smile he cackled.

"I am Salazar Slytherin, do you think death can stop me!" Harry and Rowena watched as his blade plunged through Godric's chest before Salazar punched the one armed founder, sending him sprawling to the floor. Salazar began coughing up more blood, looking to Harry and Rowena spitefully before biting out, "I will have my revenge! You mugglelovers will be the destruction of wizard kind, and I shall stop your madness."

"Merlin I forgot! Rowena, see if you can save Godric, I have to go stop Salazar!" Harry said out in realization as Slytherin's body collapsed to the floor in an unmoving heap, not far from where Godric's body had begun the process of bleeding out already.

"Like hell I am, I'm staying by your side," she said, leaving little room for argument. With time ticking, Harry decided not to argue, conceding with a nod and pulling her up before sprinting out the staffroom. "Where are we going?"

"Chamber of secrets, Salazar built it, and he made a horcrux as well. I suspect last Christmas, ever since he became more openly hostile," Harry replied before skidding to a stop in the first floor girl's bathroom. "_Open, stairs," _he commanded, and the sink moved apart, revealing a descending staircase. "Be careful, and stay behind," Harry ordered. Knowing better than to argue, she nodded in agreement, following him closely as he cautiously descended down the steps before arriving at a second barrier.

"_Open," _he commanded, and the stone again parted way to reveal the main chamber. Rushing inside, they were greeted by the sight of Salazar's son kneeling besides a very incensed Salazar. "Salazar, stop before you make a big mistake. The horcrux has changed you."

"Marcelo, take my journal and run. Head north and continue my work my son. I shall hold them off," Salazar commanded without his usual sneer. Wielding a spare wand he hid in the chamber long ago, he advanced towards the duo, death written in his eyes as he mused, "Potter and Ravenclaw, so you managed to find my chamber, not bad, but we shall see if your duelling is on par, Avada Kedavra!"

The sickly green jet of light shot straight towards Rowena, who was too shocked to move aside. Harry however would not let her die, quickly shoving her to one side as the spell narrowly missed both of them, shooting past and hitting the wall, blasting a bit of rubble off it.

"Leave her out of this, Slytherin," Harry demanded angrily as he advanced, drawing the elder wand and immediately firing off several blasting curses. "I made a vow long ago, I am only sorry it had to end like this," he said, regret in his eyes as he thought about the portrait that had mentored him, but moreover allowed him to confide and strategize with for well over a decade. "Expelliarmus!" he cast quickly, and Salazar's wand was knocked out of his hand. Before the founder could speak Harry had sent a blasting spell straight towards him, killing the elder Slytherin quickly and without hesitation.

"H...Harry, how was he alive...Godric killed him….didn't he? What are horcruxes?" Rowena stammered, having picked herself up from the floor.

"Horcruxes are extremely dark magic, it involves splitting one's soul and embedding it into another object so that when one dies they can be revived from their horcrux. The dark lord I faced made seven. Salazar however, is now truly dead, though I will have to journey north to find him. Can you ask the wards if he is still on the grounds?'

Rowena concentrated on Hogwart's magic, trying to feel for the Slytherin heir's presence. Sensing none, she withdrew her magic from the school, shaking her head negative. Harry cursed and she flinched at the venom laced in his tone.

"Then up north it is," he remarked solemnly. Rowena looked at him confusedly and he smiled disarmingly. "Salazar's journals mentioned it, his plan in case he were ever threatened at Hogwarts."

"And how have you read his journals? Not even I can enter his study through his enchantments, not that I am aware of where it is. You know more than you let on," her voice was laced with suspicion and something more. Hurt, hurt that she was left out.

Harry pondered for several moments, as though trying to figure out how his diction and articulation might soften the blow for her. "I am a traveller, but not from distant lands. In fact I resided in Scotland and England for much of my life."

"If you have not travelled in distance, then you must...you are a time traveller?" There was a hint of apprehension in her voice, yet the curiosity that sparked from her academic interest was not lost. Harry looked at her with what looked to be pride for deducing his secret.

"In my time, Salazar hunted down his own son I believe, though it has been lost to the pages of history and naught but speculation. It seems my presence has changed that. I have a theory, you know, that I travelled not through time, but through dimensions. My presence here should be a paradoxical impossibility, from a thousand years since Hogwarts founded, yet I have spent months with you and the other founders, no?" Rowena merely nodded in acknowledgement, and Harry couldn't help but find solace in the fact that the woman he had come to regard as a partner did not change her view of him much.

"I-I want to blame you, to ridicule you for not telling me this, you know?" she said, trembling slightly and not shaking off the comforting hand he wrapped around her. "But I doubt I would have done differently were I in your position, so alas logic dictates I should not blame you."

"I think all the more of you for it," Harry commented, feeling oddly proud for her as he led her up to Ravenclaw tower. She gave a small smile, though Harry was happy to note it didn't seem forced.

"I'll be joining you," she said softly, but her voice was steel. She just bore her dark eyes into his emerald orbs and his imminent objection stalled, turning into a gulp. "You're the first person since ever that has cared for me, Helga and Godric can take care of Hogwarts."

"Teaching is your dream," he retorted gently, a strong protest among weak arguments he could formulate in his mind.

"Wrong, at night I dream not of academia, but of you. I may love my books, but they are but that." Harry chuckled in spite of himself, and she cocked an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Nothing, just an inside joke. Your future followers were notorious for studying for the sake of studying. It is refreshing to know that you do not hold such an extreme belief."

"Of course, knowledge is just a tool to achieve one's goals, knowledge for the sake of knowledge is just...wrong," Rowena said with a shudder.

"Then I shall not stop you from joining me, though I loathe myself for doing so. We shall leave tomorrow, so let us have a night's rest."

"It is amazing, no? How accepting we are of each other. I take the fact you are from another time in stride and you take the fact that I will stand by you without a blink. Many other couples would have shattered at such a tribulation."

"Then we are special, my raven," Harry cooed softly, running a finger along her cheek and enjoying her shudder as her eyes sparkled mischievously.


	15. Chapter 15

"Do you think that you could connect a floo system from a tent to Hogwarts?" Rowena perked up at the question, and her eyes shined at the possibility. She pondered for several moments, humming as she collected several dresses and placed them in her trunk.

"No, the floo is designed for fixed locations. If you moved the tent by even a meter you would have to redo the calculations to connect the system. Why do you ask?"

"If we could do that then we could just floo back here every night and rest, that way we keep moving north without having to worry much about supplies and whatnot. No matter, we shall just have to bring some supplies along with us."

"But how? We must resupply within the week, it is not feasible to carry any more than that, and there are only a few settlements up north."

"Would you believe me if I said magic?" Harry deadpanned. Rowena groaned and steadfastly refused to meet his amused gaze. "Fine, fine, ruin my fun. In the future people invented trunks with expanded storage, as well as tents and whatnot. Hell, my trunk has several months worth of supplies and enough weapons for a small militia."

"Hmm, why not apparate? We could apparate back and forth from camp and back to Hogwarts, right?" Rowena queried. Harry mused thoughtfully.

"No, the power required to side apparate increases from that to apparate by oneself exponentially. In other words I could probably go several towns north and apparate back to Hogwarts, but not with you. In essence I can return to my tower any time to resupply, so worry not about that."

"But I can apparate, you taught me yourself!" she protested. He shook his head.

"You can apparate probably two towns north at most before the distance causes exhaustion. That would cause you to splinch yourself."

"Just how far north are we going?"

"Azkaban island, in the north sea north east of northern Scotland, so quite far up. I would advise against you going, princess, but you've made your choice clear." She harrumphed at the nickname and stamped her foot.

"Do not call me that Harry! I am no princess! I could probably duel you to a standstill!" She regretted the words that slipped her mouth, as Harry immediately had a predatory gleam in his eye. On second thought challenging the man who could take on Godric and Salazar with a hand behind his back was not a good idea.

"Care to try back up such bold words?" he teased. Rowena humphed but allowed a smirk to curl her lips. Without warning, she raised her wand, a stunner rolling off her lips. She was so surprised by the red jet of light that slammed into her chest that she didn't react until she slammed into the wall and fell to the floor.

"Damn, still to slow on the draw," she cursed while hoisting herself up. Harry gave her a concerned look but she brushed it off. Training with him together had done wonders for her spellwork. Having focused mostly on academia rather than casting, she was abnormally weak when they first met. Now, she could stand her ground against Salazar, and even give Godric pause in his attacks.

"Damn, I can't fit all my books in the trunk along with the dresses," she bemoaned. Harry rolled his eyes and she put her hands at her hips challengingly. He ignored this, pecking her on the lips and flustering her before he began casting several enchantments on the trunk. Rowena watched as her stack of folded dresses, initially overflowing from the top, slowly sank deeper and deeper into the trunk as it expanded.

"Don't take what you don't need or want to risk destroying. Keep those at Hogwarts where they'll be safe," Harry advised. "I'm going to find us some horses and collect a few things from my tower."

She nodded as she reluctantly pulled several tomes out of her trunk and stowed them carefully back onto her bookshelf. She then spent the next thirty minutes casting protective charms over the bookshelf until she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

"Row, you're leaving aren't you?" She turned to see Helga at the door wiping tears with a silk handkerchief.

"I am. I won't let Harry do this alone, he's been good to me," Rowena affirmed, thinking to the many late nights they would spend comforting each other. Both had demons from the past to deal with, and he never pressed her to reveal his, just as she never pressed him. Still, they often found themselves discussing her parents being slaughtered or him being manipulated into fighting a dark lord. She had always held a suspicion that there was something different about him, so it surprised her she was quite indifferent to the revelation that he was a time traveller.

"Bu-but what about Hogwarts? Godric's still healing, and Salazar has forsaken us. Will you abandon what we've worked for just for...for Potter?"

Rowena tempered her anger that she spat out the last part. She knew Harry had spent little time with the other female founder, but frankly could not believe she would hold him in such low regard. "He is hunting down Marcelo, who intends to murder and split his soul. Forgive me if I think stopping him is quite important."

"You would not bat an eye were it not for Potter. He-he's corrupted you! Row you have to believe me when I tell you, woman to woman, that he is using you. We've been friends for ages now, he's been here what, two years?"

"Do not insult my relationship with Harry!" Rowena bellowed angrily, her magic flaring up as the bookshelf and bed frame rattled. Taking a breath, she glared at her fellow founder. She in turn gave a look of disappointment as she turned and left without another word.

"My raven, what's wrong?" Strong arms snaked around her waist, and Harry placed a soft kiss on her cheek before resting his head on her shoulder. She deflated under his embrace, resting onto him as her magic collected itself.

"Nothing my love, nothing to concern yourself with," Rowena assured, gently unwrapping his arms from her, "just Hufflepuff trying to convince me to stay."

"Is there any-"

"No."

"Then we leave tomorrow. Rest, my raven." He ruffled her hair affectionately as she swatted at his hand before he turned to leave.

"Stay." Harry turned back to see her biting on her lower lip, eyes laced with uncertainty as she stared at his feet. "We're in this together."

"Together," Harry affirmed, accepting her extended hand and following her to bed.

The next day, Harry woke to see Rowena's black hair draped across his head and her body snuggled up against his. Brushing aside stray strands of hair with a finger, he admired her face, soft and warm with a tint on her cheeks and a smile on her lips. He pressed a kiss on her and her lips curled up even more as her dark eyes widened open.

"Good morning love," she cooed softly, and was rewarded with a brilliant smile.

"I could get used to this," Harry teased. Rowena merely hummed in agreement as she stretched her limbs with a yawn. They both left their bed and proceeded to clean themselves before walking together to the great hall. The students had all left for the summer, and only the few staff members were left.

Helga bristled at the sight of them and refused to meet their gaze, while Godric merely looked depressed as he was fed by Helga, unable to do so himself because of his injuries. Harry and Rowena quickly finished their food, unwilling to meet their hostility, giving them a nod before they walked out hand in hand.

"Nice mounts," Rowena commended as Harry walked out the castle gates lugging behind two trunks and a tent. A young boy no older than ten stood there expectantly, holding the reigns of a pair of brown horses. Harry took a pouch of galleons and tossed it to the kid, who caught it deftly in the air and left with a single nod. Without delay he tied up a trunk to each horse before setting the tent on his horse. Turning to Rowena, he offered her a hand up to her horse before mounting his own.

They travelled quickly through the town of Hogsmeade, passing by several alleys of homes and shops. A few of the children who studied at Hogwarts waved to them cheerfully, while others turned to watch the pair in confusion, as it was rare to see the founders leave the grounds of Hogwarts when normally everything was delivered to the secretive school.

Several large columns of black smoke billowed ahead as they rode their horses along a small dirt path. In several hours they had left the boundaries of Hogsmeade and made for the northern terrain, straight towards the battle between the humans and dwarves against the giants, inferni and dark elves.

Harry rode his brown stead slightly ahead of Rowena, their tent and baggage split between the two horses as they continued to trot at an even pace. "We shall camp here tonight," he announced, seeing the slight fatigue in Rowena's eyes. She looked about to protest, but a serious look from Harry silenced her objection. Leading the horses off the road and into a patch of grassland, he hopped off his horse, unloading a magically expanded tent and tying the reigns of his horse loosely to one of the stakes of the tent before helping Rowena off her horse and also binding the horse. He rubbed both's noses affectionately and they breathed softly on his hand before they lay on their sides and began to doze off.

Harry led her into the tent, where his magical trunk and one of hers laid, next to a small stove, a shelf of food. Two beds were neatly tucked into the corner of the room, and Rowena scoffed before waving her wand, merging the two beds before dragging him in.

Harry woke to the sensory ward triggering around the perimeter of their camp. Waking up, he quickly untangled himself from a still soundly sleeping Rowena and crept outside the tent, fingering the elder wand in his right hand as he surveyed the surroundings for intruders.

He narrowed his eyes just as a young man strode towards their tent. He wore a black robe, with short black hair and sparkling green eyes as he raised his hands as though lifting an invisible object. Harry was unsure of what to do, and merely sent a stunner towards the man. The man stopped advancing, though to Harry's horror, something, or rather someone popped out of the ground, absorbing the spell as a green eyed inferni stared back at him.

Harry blinked once before raising his wand and casting a wide-arc burning spell, and several inferni screeched unearthly as they were burnt to a crisp. More bodies were beginning to sprout off in the distance, and Harry was weary of getting surrounded and swarmed by his enemy. Instead, he fired off several curses at the necromancer, who was too engrossed raising the dead to notice the spells before he was hit by an acid curse followed by a bone breaker and then a stunner.

Thankfully, it seemed that without a necromancer the dead stayed that way, and bodies half sprouted from the ground fell limp again, and once again there was silence in the night air. "Ha-har, what in bloody merlin was that?"

Harry turned to see an extremely pale Rowena staring at the charred crisp remains of several inferni a few meters in front. An arm was grappling on Harry's leg and he kicked loose of its grip before stomping on it once for good measure.

"Those, my dear, were inferni, the undead, raised and controlled by necromancers," Harry replied gravely. Sending a binding spell at the downed necromancer for good measure, he grabbed her hand firmly and led her inside, digging out a calming drought and easing it down her throat. She took several moments before blood once again flowed to her cheek and her breathing resumed normally. She took several breaths and eyed him uneasily. "Stay, I'll be back."

At her weak nod, he exited the tent again and wandered out to the collapsed body of the man. Using a lighting charm, he saw that the man was indeed quite young, no older than twenty. His face was flawless, still contorted in a twisted grimace. No doubt the acid curse had done significant damage to his torso and legs, yet his mind was still functional enough for Harry to enter as he peered through the memories.

The man, as it seems, was simply known as Nightswan, an initiate into the ranks of the necromancers up north. Harry felt the briefest tinges of sympathy to learn that he was orphaned, yet his fate had been sealed by his actions.

Harry did not enjoy learning the technique to raise the dead. It was frankly revolting, and to even be able to attempt the feat they needed the blood of an infant, a virgin and an elder. To feel the recruits initial apprehension lessen as he progressed and began raising more inferni struck a chord with the normally emotionless Harry. Yet the man had been looking to attack helpless travellers at night, and he could only feel solace at the fact the man would not manage to harm others.

"Incendio," Harry cast with a flick of his wand. The corpse of the necromancer quickly set on fire and burnt the body to smolders before the fire died out. Wandering back inside, he quickly returned to bed with a distraught Rowena, running his hand through her hair soothingly as he cradled her head and sung a soft tune, lulling her into sleep.


	16. Chapter 16

Harry and Rowena passed through several settlements as they continued to move northward. They had finally made it to the settlement of Abesdale after a week of travelling through mostly countryside. The town was a relatively large settlement that seemed livelier than those they passed previously, and there was a stream of people wandering in and out the boundaries.

"Do you want to chance this town or pass it?" Harry asked her as they stopped at the mouth of the town, watching common folk go about their business.

"Abesdale has quite a large magical population, so that's a plus. Let's settle in the peripheries, the comforts of our tent are fine, but it would be nice to resupply in the markets and rest for a while." Harry nodded his agreement and they guided their horse around the village edge, finding a suitable patch of field to take out their tent and tie their horses to. The horses began grazing lazily on the fields, while Harry and Rowena walked into town hand in hand, discreet notice-me-not charms cast on their clothings to dissuade robbers and too many questions being directed at their attire.

"Apples! Apples! Three knuts for one, a bag for a galleon!" A vendor proudly announced at the edge of the market. It seemed the market vendors were mockingjays, as their were continued calls for different merchandise echoing around the market square.

"We'll take a bag, if you please," Harry said, pulling out a galleon and tossing it to the eager vendor. He inspected several bags, each overflowing with apples, before picking one and shrinking it until it fit in his pocket when the merchant was not paying attention.

"Harry, you've bought two weeks worth of apples," Rowena gently admonished.

"But they're you're favourite, I'm allowed to spoil my future wife rotten." She blushed as he chuckled at her expense. He pulled an apple from his pocket and handed it to her, which she took a bite of before humming merrily.

"What else do we need?" Harry asked, and Rowena pursed her lips in thought.

"Some bread would be nice, other than that we're pretty well stocked," she replied. "Look there's a baker there, perfect-"

They both whipped out their wands instinctively when they heard several high pitched screams in the distance.

"The dead, the dead are coming alive! Run for your-"

Pandemonium.

Vendors were busy packing their carts and stalls as quick as possible, several young children taking the opportune moment to pick out produce before scurrying away into the crowd. It seemed that the crowd was generally headed southward, and the screams were emitting north from their position at the town square. Harry and Rowena pushed past the fleeing people, the streets becoming more and more deserted as they headed further and further north.

"Incindio!" Harry cast with a flick of his wand, and flames shot out straight towards an undead corpse strutting towards them. It let out an unearthly screech, alerting its kin as it withered to the ground as a pile of ash.

"Prepare for more," both said at the same time before turning to each other amusedly, sporting identical grins. "Well said," they commented at the same time before laughing.

Several inferni rounded a corner in front of them before charging towards them with a ferocious war cry. Rowena hesitated for a second before raising her wand and casting the fire spell, burning all of the undead as they stopped to writhe and burn.

"We have to find the necromancers to end this," Harry noted, "they could easily summon thousands, more than we could deal with."

"We'll split-"

"-absolutely not," Harry immediately discounted the idea. "You are not leaving my sight and that is final." She gave him an annoyed glance, but seeing the resolve in his eyes she waived, feeling slightly guilty at underestimating his concern for her.

"Together then," she amended. He gave a nod, and both began striding through the streets. Sending flame curses which worked with brutal efficiency against the inferni, especially susceptible to fire.

"-Irdis morir descar-" they heard in the distance, and quickly disillusioned themselves and silenced their feet so they would produce minimal sound. They followed the sound of the incantations and found that a group of three necromancers were wearing black hoods which completely concealed their faces, their hands raised and several inferni surrounding them.

"Why look, stragglers! It's our lucky day!" Harry bit down a curse as the necromancers stalked over to them, several more inferni joining their ranks. Harry lifted his wand and fired off a jet of fire, burning the nearest two inferni and halting their advance, though one of the necromancers quickly raised a blue protego, slowly advancing and protecting the inferni.

Harry exerted himself, pushing more and more magic into the flames, and the shield began flickering uneasily. "Row! Shield piercer!" Harry grunted. This took her out of her shock and she gracefully waved her wand, firing off a flawless shield piercing spell.

"Gah!" the trio of necromancers collectively screamed as a wall of fire angrily rushed towards them, having been building up like water behind a dam, now flushing furiously towards them and attempting to engulf them whole with their protego out of the way.

Two of the necromancers were able to roll out of the way of the flames, but the final one, who happened to be the shortest, did not, and he along with the dozen or so inferni let out screams as they were burnt to a crisp by the hellish flames.

"What on earth was that?" Rowena questioned, eyes wide in surprise.

"Later," Harry insisted, "we're not finished here." Hellfire, a version of fiendfyre, though slightly less potent it in most cases the difference in destruction was negligible, though unlike fiendfyre it could be wielded, whereas one could only cast fiendfyre, not wield it.

The two necromancers immediately began working against them, one of them raising his hands, summoning more inferni from corpses buried under the ground. Meanwhile, the other necromancer, who looked to be the leader, raised his hand and fired off a sickly green jet of light from his hand.

Harry cocked his head to the side in alarm, the spell just missing his ear. "He can fire off a killing curse without the spell?" Rowena asked in alarm.

"Yes, stupid witch. We don't need wands to harness the full power of magic! Allow me to introduce myself. I am narraxus a'thad, and you shall learn not to mess with those who can control the dead!"

A hand reached up from under Harry and grabbed his leg, which he shook of in alarm before stomping on it. Rowena fired a cutting curse at the two necromancers, though the one who spoke just raised a blue protego and shielded against the spell before it could strike his partner, who was in a trance like state repeatedly uttering the incantations to summon the dead.

Harry raised his wand and fired off a succession of dark curses, organ liquifying, entrail expelling, eye removing and internal bleeding spells, forcing the man to dodge and shield against the spells and preventing him from protecting his partner, who was now open for Rowena to curse at.

"Sera!" the furious witch cast, and a red beam of light shot towards the man, cleaving off his head when it impacted. The few inferni that he managed to finish summoning charged angrily at her, though they were dispatched with several judicious use of flame charms.

"What do you know of Marcelo Slytherin? How are you able to cast spells?" Harry questioned as he continued bombarding the necromancer with spells. The man seemed indifferent to the loss of his two companions, though the spells he retaliated with began diverging from the killing curse into the torture curse and other dark spells.

"Oh, that boy. Nice lad, chasing immortality, taught me a good repertoire of spells in exchange for me teaching him about necromancy. What's your business with him?" he commented casually between firing a killing curse and an organ liquifying spell.

"I killed his father, going to kill him as well. He's broken the laws of nature and magic," Harry replied while dodging the spells gracefully.

"Bah! You'll have to live through me first!"

Harry grit his teeth, even with the power of the elder wand he was still hard pressed to battle against the necromancer, who would often distract him with inferni in between casting spells. Thankfully, Rowena was able to help him deal with most of the inferni.

Ten minutes of furious battle later, Harry was finally able to land a cutting curse on the necromancer's hand, which distracted him enough for a organ boiling curse to strike him. He fell to the ground writhing, and several inferni in the process of emerging from the ground fell down limp.

"Legilimens!" Harry cast quickly, knowing precious seconds were ticking by before the necromancer fell to his injuries. He scanned through the memories of the young Slytherin: their shared sessions delving into the dark arts and necromancy, casual discussions of their future plans, talking about the war. Harry could feel the mind collapsing onto itself from the strain, and quickly extracted himself lest he become trapped forever within.

"Harry! Are you alright?" Rowena asked concerned as he fell to his knees exhausted. "Harry talk to me!"

"T-t-tired," he stammered out, pulling a vial of pepper up potion from his pocket and hastily downing it, cringing at the horrid taste before feeling the energy return to him. He got to his feet shakily, explaining, "Energy boost, it'll wear off soon and I'll sleep like a log. I checked his memories, we've killed all the necromancers attacking, His memories confirm that Slytherin is heading towards the isle of Azkaban, he's maybe a week ahead of us. He plans on doing some sort of ritual, and the damn necromancers have just given him the last piece he needs. They know how to duel because he taught them! There's many more necromancers, Row, and they're probably wreaking havoc on the coalition."

"Well, what are we going to do? We can't fight in the war and hunt down Marcelo at the same time, it's one or the other," she noted as they walked through empty streets back towards their tent.

"I-" he saw her hardened gaze and amended, "-we will fight in the war, push back the necromancers. There can't be more than a hundred, two hundred of them. Merlin knows how many trolls, giants and dark elves there are. If the goblins saw fit to intervene then it must be bad. The war could spread to destroy the entire magical society. It's the more immediate threat."

"Enough talk, you must rest." They hobbled back to their tent, and Rowena checked the wards were active once again before tucking Harry in and joining him in bed, thoroughly exhausted.


End file.
